Wedding

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For other uses, see Wedding (disambiguation).

Nubian wedding with some international modern touches, near Aswan, Egypt

Preparing for the photographs, at a wedding in Thornbury Castle, England

A traditional Japanese wedding ceremony

A wedding is a civil or religious ceremony which celebrates the beginning of a marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. In some countries, cultures and religions, the actual act of marriage begins during the wedding ceremony. In others, the legal act of marriage occurs at the time of signing a marriage license or other legal document, and the wedding is then an opportunity to perform a traditional ceremony and celebrate with friends and family.

1 Types
2 Customs
3 Clothing
4 Music
- 4.1 Western weddings
- 4.2 African weddings
5 See also

[edit] Types

A double wedding is a single ceremony where two fiancee couples rendezvous for two separate weddings. Typically, a fiancee with a sibling might plan a double wedding with that sibling.

A destination wedding is any wedding in which the engaged couple and/or a majority of their guests travel to attend the ceremony. Whether this happens for an intimate beach ceremony in the Caribbean, extravagant nuptials in Las Vegas or for a simple ceremony in someone's back yard, chances are it qualifies as a destination wedding.

A white wedding is a formal or semi-formal wedding in British, Ireland and American, as well as Commonwealth, traditions.

A military wedding is a ceremony conducted in a military chapel.

An online wedding is a wedding that is either conducted on the internet, or is an event that resembles a standard wedding when two people who wish their avatars, or characters, to be married.

A same-sex wedding is a ceremony in which two people of the same gender are married. This may be an official and legally recognized event, or (in places that to do not allow same-sex marriage) it may simply be an opportunity to make the same pledges and have the same celebration with friends and family as at a traditional wedding.

A justice of the peace presides over a civil marriage ceremony by a lake in Connecticut.

A civil wedding is a ceremony presided over by a local civil authority, such as an elected or appointed judge, justice of the peace or the mayor of a locallity. Civil wedding ceremonies can use references to God, but no references to a particular religion or denomination. They can be either elaborate or simple. Many civil wedding ceremonies take place in local town or city halls or courthouses in judge's chambers.

[edit] Customs

Main article: Wedding traditions and customs

Wedding ceremonies may contain any number of different elements, however most contain wedding vows of some kind and a proclamation of marriage, usually by the officiant. Most weddings also involve wearing the traditional clothes of the culture in which the couple is wedding. A wedding is often followed or accompanied by a wedding reception.

Other elements may include music, poetry, prayer, scripture, or other traditions. In most societies a number of traditions or customs have emerged around the wedding ceremony, many of which have lost their original symbolic meaning in the modern world. Other wedding traditions are relatively recent. Some elements of the Western heterosexual wedding ceremony symbolize the bride's departure from her father's control and entry into a new family with her husband. In modern Western weddings, this symbolism is largely vestigial, since husband and wife are of equal power and status. In some cultures, same-sex weddings are celebrated.

A wedding's particular customs may be varied, mixed, or invented to suit the personalities, interests, and cultural backgrounds of the couple. Such hybrid ceremonies are more common when performed by Civil Celebrants, as in Australia, the United States and Canada.

[edit] Clothing

Different wedding traditions call for different wedding outfits:

Qipao, Chinese traditional formalwear
Batik and Kebaya, a special garment worn by the Javanese people of Indonesia.
Barong Tagalog, an embroidered formal garment of the Philippines
Kimono, the traditional garments of Japan
Ao dai, traditional garments of Vietnam
Morning dress, a particular category of men's formal dress
Topor, a type of conical headgear traditionally worn by grooms as part of the Bengali Hindu wedding ceremony
Tuxedo
- Black tie, indicating dinner jacket in the UK
- White tie, indicating evening dress in the UK
Sherwani, a long coat-like garment worn in South Asia
Wedding veil
Wedding dress

[edit] Music

[edit] Western weddings

Music often played at western weddings includes a processional song for walking down the aisle and reception dance music. More at wedding music.

[edit] African weddings

Traditional music throughout Africa is almost always functional; in other words, it is performed to mark a ritual such as a wedding. Because Africa is a continent with a wide range of ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity, the music of Africa varies widely.