My first time ever to be the best man

I feel excited but nervous now because I am gonna be the best man on May 3rd, which is the first time ever in my entire life. As the best man, I guess my role is to do anything I can for the furtherance of the ceremony. More importantly, I will be able to witness a couple I've known for more than 10 years finally walking hand in hand onto the red carpet. Sooner or later, it will be my turn to get married, so I think the experience of this kind can serve as apprenticeship.

Recently, I've been thinking why we need a ceremony for marriage. For me, I'd often think it could change nothing in the newly-weds' life, not to speak of changing what they are. Here in Taiwan we've got a lot of things to do if the newlyweds prepare the ceremony all by the traditions. Even if you decide to simplify it, the preparation is still tiring (it is definitely exciting, though). I come to realize that a ceremony is not just for a couple, but also for the two families supporting the couple. The ceremony is not intended to change anything in the newlyweds' life, but to let the couple learn how to respect each other and each other's families. No matter how long a couple have been seeing each other before getting married, until the ceremony will it be publicly declared to be the start of the union of the newlyweds, for which they should take some responsibility.

For the parents in Taiwan, the ceremony sometimes means a lot more than it means for the newlyweds. It's a token for the completion of a task, which is quite different from some foreign cultures. That's why there is an old saying here--"Those who have not been married are children still."