Embrace mass weddings and save money for family
What you need to know:
The issue: Mass wedding
Our view: Mass weddings are opportunities that should help to demonstrate to intending couples that a small, but beautiful wedding, can be done well and legally. And the money they would have spent saved to use for other important things in their lives.
Weddings in Uganda are a serious matter. So much so that finances for a wedding can be budgeted for, for between Shs10 million and Shs60 million. A lot of effort, finances and time are put into planning for that rite of passage.
Previously, the introduction ceremony was a matter to take care of by the families of the couple intending to tie the knot. Friends, workmates and others would be called in to support when it was time for the wedding.
Today, however, even introduction ceremonies have meetings held, and friends are asked to contribute. It is indeed good to celebrate such an important event, however, many people put it off because they are scared by the amount of money they have to inject into the whole process - from hiring a venue to hold wedding meetings, to paying more than five service providers for the big day.
This is why churches like Omega Healing Centre, and Miracle Centre Rubaga, among others, should be applauded for the mass weddings they organise. All Saints Cathedral is one of the latest churches to do so. It has organised for a mass wedding on November 23 and has asked couples interested to register with them.
As Ivan Naijuka, the All Saints Cathedral’s communication officer, said in a story in this newspaper yesterday that weddings tend to be expensive and the young people, especially those who get married, tend to find themselves in debts at the end of the day, which is not a good way to start a marriage.
Shs60 million is a lot of money. Such money can be used to establish an investment that can provide employment, income and careers for people. This amount of money can also be put into higher education, which tends to be expensive. There is no harm in putting that kind of money in a wedding if one can afford it. For those who cannot, however, there is a potential risk of getting into debt.
Therefore, other religious institutions should be encouraged to promote and have mass weddings. Mosques, Seventh Day Adventists and other faiths should help teach their flock that a wedding can be held without having to break the bank.
Mass weddings are opportunities that should help to demonstrate to intending couples that a small, but beautiful wedding, can be done well and legally. And the money they would have spent can be saved for other important things.
