Sealed With a Kiss: A History Of Marriage and Its Traditions

This presentation will take us on a centuries long trip down the aisle of matrimony. We will travel from the earliest hunter gatherer societies to the civilization of the Greeks and Romans, through the Middle Ages & Renaissance, on to the Age of Enlightenment, the romance of the Victorians and the rise of modern marriage. Along the journey we will learn about laws and traditions which continue to influence our current rituals and discover why love and marriage didn't always go together "like a horse and carriage."

Finally, we will examine the dramatic changes in the 20th - 21st centuries challenging our long-held notions about "traditional marriage." Told through the lens of history, art history, and tales of couples such as the enigmatic Arnolfinis of Flanders; Giovanni and Lusanna of Renaissance Italy; and mail order brides of the Old West, you are sure to find this presentation both entertaining and informative.