Is there any halachik or serious minhag sources for the practice of having a lower key second wedding? Are there differences between divorcees and widows/widowers?
Answer:
Although there is no formal halachic source for this, a possible source is the difference in days of celebration between a first wedding and the second, as found in Even Ha-Ezer 62 (6).
However, there is no custom to follow the precise halachos mentioned there.
Another possible idea is that just as the luchos shniyos, which were not broken, were given in a modest fashion, so it is fitting for the second marriage to be more modest.
However, some make the second wedding just as high key as the first, and there is no halachic reason for not doing so.
