Perhaps my mind has been formed by the media to think of William Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet as the "perfect" couple or that there was a time when man and woman's first kiss was indeed at their wedding, but the question remains: what does that phrase really mean? As I continue to think I realize that culturally in the past 200 years the world has changed many of its customs. You don't have to go very far to find a couple making out on a park bench. 200 years ago there seems to be a different custom. Things were "proper." It wasn't common at all to see a couple prior to marriage kissing. Now it's very common to know someone who has had sex outside of marriage.
Is the phrase you may now kiss the bride merely a ceremonial phrase? Or is it in fact granting permission for the couple to finally kiss? What does a kiss even mean?
