Marital Mirth

It's June.

Which means two things: The White Sox have guaranteed another losing season by going into their annual “June swoon,” and it’s the traditional month for weddings.

Well, I won’t hazard a guess as to why things are the way they are on the South Side of Chicago. But I can share some historical insight on the latter subject.

Welcome to the June edition of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist, from Caricatures by Joel.

In ancient Rome, Juno was the goddess of marriage and childbirth. So a wedding held in Juno’s month of celebration – what would have been June 1 -- was considered especially auspicious.

It is also believed that the idea of June weddings was further fortified by the Celtic calendar. Young couples would traditionally “pair off” on May 1 (May Day), to court for three months and then wed in August. Impatient youths would shorten the wait time to mid-June.

Subsequently, in Victorian times, flowers were available at that time of year for wedding décor and the scent of flowers helped to mask the smell of…body odor.

Eventually the popularity of June weddings became entrenched in the collective conscience of Western society.

After June, the most popular months to get married are September and October, presumably for the more accommodating temperatures to be found in late Summer and early Fall.

As a caricaturist, I’ve had my share of entertaining at weddings. It’s always a popular feature with lines forming almost as long as those to get the food.

Scattered among here are samples of Sign-In Boards – a uniquely fun and customized approach to welcoming guests into the reception area. 

You’ve probably seen them as elegantly posed and mounted photos of the bride and groom. These are lighter, more whimsical takes on that tradition.

This piece isn't a Sign-In Board, per se, but it was presented as a gift to Miami-based wedding event planner and TV personality Tiffany Nieves-Cook: 

You're invited the first Tuesday of next month for more throwing of the rice from Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.