India, Oct. 18 -- "Everyone has to get married here," quips our guide Aibek Adigineev. We're in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, standing in front of a quintessentially USSR relic-the Wedding Palace. It's a hulking, modernist structure from the 1980s, with abundant marble and stained glass for illusions of grandeur. With religious expression frowned upon, the communist state created a secular version of a mosque or church to host weddings. Although elaborately decorated, no theological iconography is present. Instead, we're surprised to spot the hammer-and-sickle motif in the ceremonial hall.

Despite independence since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, many young couples still marry here. Perhaps it's a sign of an enduring legacy,...