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Wedding
A wedding is a civil or religious ceremony at which the beginning of a marriage is celebrated.
CUSTOM
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.
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 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. Recently in some cultures, same-sex weddings have
begun to be celebrated.
The Western custom of the bride wearing a white wedding dress came to
symbolize purity in the Victorian era (despite popular misconception
and the hackneyed jokes of situation comedies the white dress did not
actually indicate virginity, which was symbolized by a face veil).
Within the \"white wedding\" tradition, a white dress and veil would
not have been considered appropriate in the second or third wedding of
a widow or divorcee. The specific conventions of Western weddings
largely from a Protestant and Catholic viewpoint, are discussed at
\"White wedding.\"
Weddings in modern China combine both traditional elements and elements
influenced by the West. The actual civil ceremony consists of
registering the marriage with the local registrar and is brief and done
without much ceremony. The wedding reception, however, is elaborate and
complex, and the one prominent element of modern Chinese weddings is
the Chinese wedding album.
A wedding is often followed or accompanied by a wedding reception, at
which an elaborate wedding cake is served. Western traditions include
toasting the bride and groom, the newlyweds having the first dance, and
cutting the cake. The bride throws her bouquet to the assembled group
of all unmarried women in attendance, and the woman who catches it is
supposedly going to be the next to wed. A fairly recent egalitarian
equivalent has the groom throwing the bride\'s garter to the assembled
unmarried men; the man who catches it is supposedly the next to wed.
German Wood Wedding Figures
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German Wood Wedding Figures
But customs vary and in multicultural ceremonies the customs may be
varied, mixed or totally created to suit the personalities and
interests of the couple. Again, such ceremonies are more common when
performed by Civil Celebrants, as in Australia.
VARIANTS
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.
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