The practice of bridegrooms and bridesmaids dressing alike is a long-standing one in the history of marriage, based on the superstition, which holds that evil spirits might wish harm on the couple and the similarity in dress would confuse them. While we think that white wedding dresses have always been popular, the tradition is a recent one in the history of marriage, with its origins in 1840, when Queen Victoria wore a white gown at her wedding to Prince Albert of Saxe. Paying attention to every kids’ needs and concerns is important, and it may help to work with a counselor to sort through difficult issues. If the second marriage involves new parenting roles, time and patience will be required so that the kids can be comfortable being themselves. Conflicts from the first marriage may be too close to their memory, or they may not get along with other new family members. Ask for support from family and friends if you need to, or make arrangements with a marriage counselor to overcome the difficulty together. Sometimes it helps to have a third party involved so that conflict can be managed effectively with another perspective. Learning how to cope with stress during marital conflict is important when you want to save your marriage. Then there are others for whom a good night at the tables means a gold band to place beside the extra chips on the hotel dresser. It’s not possible to just arrive in Vegas and expect to get married however. Even in this fun-filled city, there are formalities that have to be observed. Be prepared to wait in line (on some days a LONG line) for your marriage license for example – without this not even the drive-thru wedding chapel is going to marry you! The escort stays standing until the minister asks “who gives this woman in marriage” and he answers. For Jewish marriage ceremonies, the processional is different still. The Rabbi and/or Cantor enter, followed by the grandparents of the bride, escorted by a male family member. The grandparents of the groom are escorted to the front row as well. As immigrants from one nation descend upon another nation and call it home, so the cultures blend and so it’s inevitable that from this mixed race culture that interracial marriage occurs. Not everyone is happy about the upward trend in interracial marriage however. There are those who believe that mixing the races in this way will end with the obliteration of most races and with one or two large mixed races taking their place.