Weddings are a celebration of love between two people where they acknowledge the love they have for one another in front of their family and friends and ask for their blessing. What happens when the blessing isnโt given? When the partners are cornered in a situation where their only chance of a wedding is to elope. To just take off and get married on their own; no muss no fuss! There are some cases where they donโt even have a choice and an elope wedding is the best option they have. Consider a couple with unsupportive parents, another of the same-sex or the classic age gap couple.ย
Unfortunately, we still live in a world where old fashioned rules are the standard. The stereotypes of how marriage or love should be are the same and even though the world is trying to cope with the changes, it is still a dilemma for certain couples to get married. Of course when thinking of Egypt, it is absolutely out of the question those examples mentioned above. The idea of getting married without the blessing of the parents or that two men can get married and build a life together is just too much to bear for our traditional mindset. This is why many couples choose to elope; after all, their love is what they need for a blessed marriage. But I just canโt help but wonder, what is the big deal?!ย
I will tell you a story about a couple and I want you to really imagine it with me. Two people met, they felt instant attraction and started dating. They went through the hardships of a relationship, the doubts, the fears and finally reached a point where they are both absolutely sure of their love for one another. They decide to build a life together because the idea of their life without one another is just out of the question. They dream of their wedding day, the house they will live in, the children they would want to have and growing old together with as much love for one another as they did when they first met. Such a beautiful story, donโt you think? Now letโs add a different element to this story; how about if those couple had a huge age gap, letโs say a 40 year old man and a 23 year old woman or the other way around. Letโs even throw in some big money and think of couples with different race, religion, social background, or even (dare I say it) of the same-sex.
Now I am pretty sure that you donโt feel the same way about the story as you felt at the beginning. Adding all those out of norm aspects to the story completely shut you down. Is it because this is how you really feel or because itโs against what you have been taught as a child on what constitutes a โnormalโ couple? What Is Normal Anyway? Isnโt Love A Normal Feeling? Why Should It Be Restricted To Some While Banned And Frowned Upon For Others? After all, itโs all the same love.ย
Elope weddings are not for everyone though. While some couples choose to do it as a spontaneous act of love or even to save a huge budget, for others it can be the only way they can get married. I think that there are a big number of such weddings in Egypt; one can only imagine the amount of couples who must resort to this option as a way to spend their life together. It is not easy and brings with it a lot of problems but if that is the only way for two people to be together then letโs toast to a life of love and happiness!ย
