How many people get married in June each year in the United States?

W: Almost five million people are married each year in the United States. About one in every eight of these weddings takes place in June, the traditional month for weddings.
   Getting married can be as simple as a five-minute ceremony performed by a judge in a law office. Or it can be a traditional religious ceremony at home, or in a church.
   The average age of an American woman being married for the first time is about twenty-four years. The average age for a man is twenty-five. Most young men and women get engaged about a year before the wedding.
   In the Nineteen-Sixties and Seventies, many young Americans decided not to have traditional, formal weddings. Many brides and grooms wrote their own wedding ceremonies. These often included poetry and personal statements about their goals in marriage. Some grooms wore old blue jeans to their weddings. More than a few brides were married in their bare feet. It was not unusual to be married on a sandy beach or on a mountainside.
   In the last ten years, however, big formal weddings have become popular again. Experts say the average size of formal weddings now is two-hundred guests. Most formal wedding patties are held at hotels or high-priced eating places. There are fresh flowers and paid photographers. Musicians play for dancing, and hired servants present the wedding dinner.
   A big wedding takes months to plan, and it can cost thousands of dollars.