In general, the people of India tend to marry within their community whether that community exists within India or those of Indian decent living in other countries.While arranged marriages are still common in India, love marriages have gained in popularity.If you are familiar with computer programming terminology, you can liken dating to a sub-routine that has been added to the system of courtship.Over the course of this two-part article, I would like to trace how this change occurred, especially concentrating on the origin of this dating "subroutine." Let me begin by briefly suggesting four cultural forces that assisted in moving from, as Alan Carlson puts it, the more predictable cultural script that existed for several centuries, to the multi-layered system and (I think most would agree) the more ambiguous courtship system that includes "the date." The first, and probably most important change we find in courtship practices in the West occurred in the early 20th century when courtship moved from public acts conducted in private spaces (for instance, the family porch or parlor) to private or individual acts conducted in public spaces, located primarily in the entertainment world, as Beth Bailey argues in her book, .In ancient times, weddings were based out of commodity, rather than desire or love.

We are encouraged to date people that are similar to us in their religion, values, and socio-economic status and also who different from ourselves.

* This method of dating not recommended by Go Overseas.

Back in the days of yore in Austria, women used to rock up to the ballroom dance with slices of apple under their armpits. When all of the lively music had finished and the dancing complete, the women would remove the sweaty apple slices from their armpits and hand them to the men they fancied (quite a way to break the ice! If he fancied her back, the man would take a bite out of her sweet sweat-stained apple and, presumably, pretend not to grimace.

The bride usually wore the best dress she owned, so her dress was not always white, as white dresses were impractical to own.

Not until the middle of the 19th century did brides start buying a dress made specifically for their wedding day. The "old" is supposed to represent the past, particularly the bond between the bride and her family.