Parties and celebrating special occasions

I think a party is essentially a way of making a moment official. Graduating or turning sixty happens whether or not anyone notices, but gathering people in one room turns a private fact into a shared memory, and it gives relatives who rarely meet an excuse to travel. There's an element of gratitude as well; in many families a celebration is how you thank the people who helped you get there. On spending, I do think weddings in particular have got out of hand. In Vietnam it's quite common for a couple to begin married life in debt after hosting several hundred guests, many of them their parents' colleagues rather than their own friends. The pressure comes less from the couple than from the fear of what others will say if the banquet looks modest. That said, I'd hesitate to call it pure waste. Guests traditionally bring envelopes of money that cover much of the bill, and for the older generation a full hall is a matter of family honour, which isn't a trivial thing to dismiss. As for how celebrations might change, I expect the rituals to get shorter and the guest lists more scattered. With so many young people working abroad, it's already normal for a grandmother to watch a wedding by video call, and I can imagine ceremonies planned around several time zones. What I doubt will change is the meal. However much technology gets involved, people seem to feel that nothing has truly been celebrated until they've eaten together.