The month of June conjured
different images of my childhood. When I was a child, I used to see how busy my
dressmaker mother was during May and June. It is in May where there are a lot
of festivities. She needs to sew the costumes needed at the Santacruzan and she
needed to prepare for the weddings gowns of the girls who are to get married on
June. I am always enamored with the thought of June brides. As a kid I always join
my mother during fittings of the girls on wedding day. It is prohibited for
girls to fit on their gowns before the wedding day during the yesteryears. It
is believed that any girl who fitted her gown before the wedding date may not
have the wedding at all.
June is said to be a love month
because its name is based on the Goddess Juno. Juno is the daughter of Saturn
and sister of Jupiter and is said to be the Counselor for the State. She is
also the Protector of Women. Juno’s name is derived from the word “iuno” which
is a derivative of Love. But some recent historians say that the word “iuno”
means youth. In this regard, Juno is also said to be the Goddess of Love and
thus the month of June being christened to be the month of marriage. Add to this, June is also called the month of
roses. And since roses are the flowers of love, the more that this month is
associated with marriage. 
It is such a surprise why June
was labeled as a Marry Month when in fact statistics in the United States show that
the peak number of marriages is on the month of July not June. This is followed
by the months of June, August and September. Compare it with Singapore where
the peak number of marriages is March followed by December, May and September. In
Australia, if we look at their 2007 statistics, March is the most popular month
to get married followed by November and August. In the local front, the
Philippines, there had been great changes in the people’s choice of their marry
month. In the last five years, May has eclipsed June to be the marrying month.
But in the recent statistics, April has become the month followed by January
and then May. The gloomiest month is November.
All
these can be pointed out with climate changes. June 1st is the
meteorological summer of the Northern Hemisphere while it is the meteorological
winter of the southern hemisphere. It is therefore expected that in the United
States that marriages peak during these months and thus the probable reason why
more marriages are in July giving them more time to prepare before that. In
Australia, March is on the autumn season. While December falls during their
summer month. Hence, we can deduce why people get married during those months.
In Singapore, the choice of the month and even the day among Chinese residents
in the country would probably be the deciding factor why they have a different
marry month. It is culture bound.
In
the Philippines, although marriage months are culture bound, this practice is
starting to wane off. As we know the climate changes in the Philippines greatly
affects the choice of the month for the country. June has become a rainy and
typhoon month until November. Hence, we could see that peak marriages occur
during the summer season where merriment is not affected by the destructive
rains. The merry goers have to contend only with the heat of summer.
The way I see it, the month of
marriage however is not important. What I see important is that two people who
are in love decide to tie the knot and put legality on their marriage and as
long as they are blessed with love and harmony, then I would say June or not
June, “Love conquers all!”
Photo Credits: blogs.crikey.com.au, ferallibrarytales.blogspot.com,
quintonlawson.com, en.wikipedia.org, aishpoint.blogspot.com,
neaq.org
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