Marige = Death?

Marige = Death?

Marriage + Death?
The institutions of both Marriage and Death have been around for centuries, and have continued throughout as central aspects of societies around the world.   Are they tied together?   If so, how?   These questions have plagued many people throughout the course of their lives.   How could two facts of life seem so different, yet when one looks closely, seem so alike?   Each has its ceremony, and at each there is a gathering of loved ones. The emotions are often similar surrounding the newly wed/departed.   Tears of love, and tears of sorrow over an end that has come, over an innocence that will never return.   How many things can be linked together that we might never have suspected at first glance?
When people go to a wedding, what is the first thing they see?   In most cases it is a church.   That is not always the case, though.   If they have decided to go against the traditional church wedding, which is not at all that uncommon, the wedding is held at a place of their choosing.   This is usually at a place that is special to the couple in some way.   The dead are not always afforded this right.   Most people are taken to a church for their last viewing.   If the person has a will, though, then he too can have the luxury of choosing the place of their ceremony.   It does seem fairly common, though, in the United States anyway, that most weddings/funerals occur at a church or at the home of the one responsible for the occasion.  
Now that the place of ceremony has been established we can move on to the atmosphere.   Here we see an obvious shift in the patterns that have been leading us mainly to similarities in both events.   While there may be flowers and loved ones at both events, the coloration of the people as well as the decorations is most obviously opposite.   At the funeral, black is the color to wear.   Black to show grief and loss for the departed.   On the other end of the color spectrum is white, the color of most weddings.   White for the hopes...