Weddings help families bond

Not one of my pictures!
Linda Geddes and Nic Fleming on their wedding day (courtesy of the Daily Mail who annoyingly don't credit the photographer)

How did dedicated New Scientist reporter Linda Geddes make her wedding day even more memorable? By taking blood samples from 13 of her nearest and dearest and sending them off to a leading hormone scientist in California! And so we find out from this small experiment that there may be some biochemical reasons behind why we get married.

The Daily Telegraph headline of “Weddings help families bond so they will assist in raising the children” contrasts with the Daily Mail’s more mercenary “Weddings are a way of providing baby-sitters for the future”.

New Scientist has the unusual picture of a Bride donating blood on her wedding day captioned “Get any blood on my dress, mister, and this experiment is finished”

The great thing is that weddings do bring families together. And the big range of emotions you will experience is mirrored by swings in hormone levels. And not just for the Bride & Groom but the whole family and even friends. Well done for everyone who took part!

One thing I did notice is that the Bride’s male friend James has more of the ‘jealousy’ hormone after the ceremony than before. Would I want the world to know that?