{"id":94272,"date":"2017-05-29T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oncubamagazine.com\/?p=94272"},"modified":"2017-05-29T14:44:40","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T18:44:40","slug":"in-cuba-love-rarely-leads-to-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/society-cuba\/population\/in-cuba-love-rarely-leads-to-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"In Cuba, love rarely leads to marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dressed all in white except for a hot pink bow-tie, a confident-looking groom stepped out onto Havana\u2019s Paseo del Prado. His bride, dressed in a billowing tulle dress, followed nervously.\u00a0 Before ducking into the white Corolla waiting for them, they turn to pose for a photo outside the elegant Wedding Palace.<\/p>\n

This was a rare sight.\u00a0 Miosotis Su\u00e1rez Iglesias, the chief notary at the Wedding Palace, where most people in Havana marry, performs 150 ceremonies each month.\u00a0 She said this is only a small fraction of the number she performed in past decades.<\/p>\n

Marriage is dying out in Cuba.\u00a0 People still fall in love, move in together and share their lives, but few bother to marry.\u00a0 Most couples now forego the paperwork that would formally bind their union.<\/p>\n

\"Wedding<\/a>
Wedding Palace \/ Photo: Nicolas Montano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of the reason could be\u00a0the declining role of Catholicism in Cuban life.\u00a0 Marriages were traditionally church ceremonies, and clashes between the revolutionary government and Catholic prelates helped create an antagonism to all things religious, especially in the early years of the revolution.<\/p>\n

As formal marriages have become less common, the glittering weddings that used to mark them have also become scarce.\u00a0 Marriages were once performed in many different rooms at the Wedding Palace building.\u00a0 Now only two small salons are necessary.<\/p>\n

\"Wedding<\/a>
Wedding Palace \/ Photo: Nicolas Montano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even for the few Cuban couples who do marry, an old-style reception is usually out of reach.\u00a0\u00a0 Food shortages are common here.\u00a0 Government salaries hover below $25 per month.\u00a0 In this climate, finding enough money and food for a wedding party is very difficult for common people.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me, who has money to rent a dress for the bride and a tuxedo for the groom?\u201d, asked Jenny Rodriguez, a hotel maid who has a long-term partner but has not married.\u00a0 \u201cTo buy makeup and hire a car for the evening?\u00a0 Who has money to pay of a buffet so that your guests can eat?\u201d<\/p>\n

In its first decades in power, the revolutionary government gave every pair of newlyweds a case of beer, a cake, and a honeymoon weekend in a hotel.\u00a0 The hope was that these gifts would encourage couples to cement their relationships legally, even without lavish parties.<\/p>\n

Those perks are no longer on offer.\u00a0 In the 1990s, the Soviet Union collapsed and Cuba lost its main economic partner.\u00a0 The economy shrunk drastically and Cubans\u2019 daily caloric intake fell by one third, so there was nothing extra to give to newlyweds.\u00a0 In addition, officials noticed that serial brides and grooms looking for extra food or a weekend at the beach were abusing the reward system.<\/p>\n

Now, given the high cost of wedding ceremonies\u00a0and the lack of government benefits, Cubans are left with no real incentives to marry and celebrate with big parties.<\/p>\n