Relationships, Marriage, & Family Life in Guyana
Due to the variation of people, cultures, races, and religions in Guyana, the dating, marriage, and family life in the country is quite diverse. Many of the ethnic Europeans view dating in a very liberal way as young men and women are free to date and marry whoever they please. For the ethnic Indians dating is more restricted (or even arranged) as many parents try to guarantee their children marry a person they feel would make a good spouse; this may mean finding someone in the same social class, economic class, or someone in the same "caste" as themselves. For the Afro-Guyanese and others, dating falls between these two extremes of conservative and liberal, but tends to be closer to the European style.
Many of the more liberal couples will move in together or have children prior to an official wedding, especially the ethnic Europeans and Afro-Guyanese. Once a couple decides to marry the Christian population will often marry in a church. Likewise, many Indian couples will marry in a temple or at least will incorporate Hindi traditions into their wedding ceremony no matter the location.