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Getting engaged in Sweden
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For some reason; to me more or less unknown, both the way and purpose of getting engaged here in Sweden often differs from the way it’s done in for instance the USA. Of course there are times when people get ”engaged to be married” here too; whereas the wedding is held usually within a year or so from the engagement. But it seems to be more common in our country these days, that people get engaged, and not necessarily marry. In these cases, there’s not the tradition of setting the wedding date etc., and also the way the engagement itself is approached, is different. All this is probably due to a modernization of old customs. As you might know, in the USA the groom-to-be often buys his girlfriend a big diamond ring, gets down on his knee and asks her to marry him. Thus the couple is engaged. Engaged to be married. In Sweden the engagement is
either mutually decided upon, or the guy asks his girlfriend if he wants
to get engaged (or vice versa), note: not married. They then go shopping
for rings. And in Sweden both the man and woman get their own engagement
ring, often a smooth golden band, without any diamonds. The reason for
this is probably that since the couple kind of "exchange" rings, they want
them to be identical, and we all know who's best friends diamonds are...
(it's not the man's I can tell...)
So the couple is now engaged, but as mentioned above, it’s not at all sure they will be getting married. The engagement is kind of an institution of its own, and many couples are quite happy indeed with this arrangement. It’s a romantic act, and both wear rings to show the world they belong together. And what if the couple after
a while wants to get married too….? Well then it's time for question #2,
which is the world-famous ”Will you marry me”? But there’s no ring at this
point, just the question itself (or agreement) since the rings are already
had, so to speak. The wedding planning starts, and at the ceremony usually
only the bride gets a wedding ring –this time often a diamond one-, and
the groom will have to settle for his ol’ engagement ring…
Of course there are as many variations from the ways described here, as there are different minds and sources of imagination, but this is the most common ways engagement is handled in our country. After this piece of inspiration
and facts; just don’t miss out on the great story about how and when Julia
and Pierre got engaged, and later on also engaged to be married….!
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