Promising Publications
Digital media play a key role in modern weddings—from preparation to the ceremony and beyond. Photos and videos make key moments memorable and shape how weddings are recalled. I argue they lead to a partial standardization of memories, downplaying cultural, religious, and sexual differences.
The paper explores how wedding photography stylistic norms reflect and reshape religious and secular values through ethical analysis and ethnographic observation. It highlights two key aspects: the “locationship”—the staged interaction between the couple, guests, and setting—where religious and secular values blend, and the lasting influence of religious wedding photography on secular norms. Notably, religion functions as an aesthetic matrix, creating a “visual enchantment” in both religious and secular ceremonies.
The Latter-day Saint temple wedding, or “sealing” ceremony, symbolizes eternal marriage in a sacred space for church members only. It reinforces social boundaries, strengthens community bonds, and upholds marriage as the highest ideal. This study examines: (1) the temple wedding’s meaning in the Latter-day Saints’ worldview, (2) how inclusion and exclusion are conveyed in the ceremony and reception, and (3) the religious social forms that emerge from these boundaries.
Blog post (13 September 2023, in German): Researching Weddings – Of Photo Stories and Shared Memories
Would you show your wedding album to a stranger and share personal memories with your spouse—while being filmed? You might think, “That’s asking a lot.” Yet in 2022 and 2023, 27 couples in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland agreed to do just that.
Interview: 13 April 2023, The Norms and Values of Weddings
Wedding rituals hold a deeper meaning. The religious scholar Marie-Therese Mäder researches customs that reflect a traditional division of the sexes. In an interview, she explains why the bridal veil is more than just a symbol.
Blog contribution 14 February 2023 Creating a Divine Order /Eine göttliche Ordnung schaffen
