Wedding by Nationality

Wedding

A wedding is a ceremony where two or more people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple, presentation of a gift (offering, rings, symbolic item, flowers, money, dress), and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are also commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs originating in Ancient Rome.

Weddings by Nationality

Egyptian wedding

Wikipedia article: Egyptian wedding

Egyptian Wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. It is a very special historical ceremony since ancient times as it is believed to be a sacred bond. The ancient Egyptians were the first people to regard marriage as a legal relationship. Marriage in Ancient Egypt was a religious imposition. The ancient Egyptian laws organized the marriage relationship and indicated all rights and duties for the couples. Many of the old marriage contracts have been found, and they were registered and signed by three officers. The ancient Egyptian laws gave the right of divorce to women as well as men, and the wife had great respect and a high degree of prestige.

The Nubian wedding ceremony often lasts for 40 days, with a long series of rituals. According to traditions, the groom has to present several gifts, particularly garments for the bride, her mother and sisters. These presents are boarded on a camel and adorned with decorations such as colorful silk fabrics and jewelry. During the wedding ceremony the groom is well-dressed, holding a sword and a whip

Icelandic weddings

Wikipedia article: Icelandic weddings

Icelandic weddings today still observe some traditional customs, such as seating by gender and the high table.

In Iceland co-habitation of a couple without a formal wedding has not carried as much stigma as elsewhere. It is not uncommon for people to marry after having been in a relationship together for years, even decades.

Wedding feasts would commence over a number of days, depending on the status and wealth of the respective families. In the Icelandic Sagas the weddings are important functions where deals, friends and enemies are made.

Indian wedding

Wikipedia article: Indian wedding

Indian weddings are very bright events, filled with ritual and celebration, that continue for several days. They are generally not small affairs, with anywhere between 100 to 10,000 people attending. Oftentimes it is possible that many of the attendees are unknown to the bride and groom themselves. Though most Indian marriages are arranged, some couples in urban areas have what are known as "love marriages", where the partners decide to marry each other without family involvement or assistance. The traditional Indian wedding is more about two families being brought together socially, with much less emphasis on the individuals involved.

Many of the wedding customs are common among Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and even Muslims. They are a combination of local, religious and family traditions.

Kenya

Wikipedia article: Ayie

Ayie is the first of two stages of a traditional marriage ceremony of the Luo tribe of Kenya and Tanzania. The ceremony involves the payment of a bride price by the groom to the mother of the bride. Ayie is a Dholuo word, which means "I agree", referring to the fact that the mother of the bride accepts the bride price and agrees for the marriage to take place.

Once the ceremony has taken place, the couple are considered to be married and the groom is at liberty to leave with the bride after the ceremony, although to complete the union a second bride price known as "keny", in the form of cattle, should be paid to the father of the bride not on the same day, but at a later date.

Nikah Misyar

Wikipedia article: Nikah Misyar

Nikah Misyar or "travelers' marriage" is a Muslim Nikah (marriage) carried out via the normal contractual procedure, with the specificity that the husband and wife give up several rights by their own free will, such as living together, equal division of nights between wives in cases of polygamy, the wife's rights to housing, and maintenance money ("nafaqa"), and the husband's right of homekeeping, and access etc.

Essentially the couple continue to live separately from each other, as before their contract, and see each other to fulfil their needs in a permissible (halaal) manner when they please.

Weddings in Pakistan

Wikipedia article: Weddings in Pakistan

Marriage in Pakistan is considered the most standard and stable living form for adults. A marriage is understood not only as a link between a man and a woman but it is also considered a union between their parents' families.

Arranged marriages have been an integral part of Pakistani society for years and it is traditional to have arranged marriages. Arranged matches are made after taking into account factors such as the wealth and social standing of their families. A marriage can also be made within the extended family such as between cousins.

Polygamy is permitted under Pakistani civil law as well as under the Pakistani Family Act. However, it is now the less common, especially in the major cities. If a married man remains childless with his first wife, family members might recommend to marry a second wife.

Philippines

Wikipedia article: Marriage and wedding customs in the Philippines

Traditional marriage customs in the Philippines and Filipino wedding practices pertain to the characteristics of marriage and wedding traditions established and adhered to by Filipino men and women in the Philippines after a period of courtship and engagement. These traditions extend to other countries around the world where Filipino communities exist. Kasalan is the Filipino word for "wedding", while its root word – kasal – means "marriage". The present-day character of marriages and weddings in the Philippines were primarily influenced by the permutation of native, Christian, Catholic, Protestant, Spanish[1], and American models.

Russia

Wikipedia article: Russian wedding

A traditional Russian wedding lasts for at least two days and some weddings last as long as a week. Throughout the celebration there is dancing, singing, long toasts, and a lot of food and drinks]]The best man and maid of honor are called witnesses, svideteli in Russian. The ceremony and the ring exchange takes place on the first day of the wedding and on this special day many events take place. Throughout the years, Russian weddings have adopted many western cultures, including bridesmaids]][[ower girls.

Once the groom arrives at the bride’s home, he must pay a ransom for the bride, a term in Russian known as vykup nevesty. The entire event is played out in a comical fashion and everyone is entertained. At first the groom comes and gives something (often vodka) for the bride, and so the parents of the bride bring out a woman or man (the latter for amusement) that is not the actual bride, but is dressed up like one, covered in a veil, so the groom can't see their face. When the groom realizes that it is not his bride, he asks for his love, but the family of the bride will demand a bigger ransom to be paid. So, upon satisfaction with the ransom given, the bride's family gives away the bride to the groom.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church Holy Matrimony is considered a Sacred Mystery (sacrament), and the sign of the marriage is not the exchange of rings (that takes place at the betrothal) but rather the placing of crowns on the heads of the bride and groom. For this reason the ceremony of the wedding is referred to as the Crowning.

The priest leads the couple into the center of the church where they come to stand on a piece of new, rose colored fabric, symbolizing their entry into a new life. The bride and groom each publicly professes that they are marrying of their own free will and that they have not promised themselves to another.

Then after an ektenia and several longer prayers the priest places crowns on the heads of the bride and the groom. These are usually held over their heads by members of the wedding party. Then follow readings from the Epistle and Gospel, ektenias, brief prayers and the sharing of a "common cup" of wine by the bride and groom.

Then a procession takes place dur[[hich the priest wraps his epitrachelion (stole) around the joined hands of the bride and groom and leads them (followed by their attendants who are holding the crowns) three times around an analogion on which the Gospel Book has been placed. This procession symbolizes the pilgrimage of their wedded life together.

It used to be the custom that the bride and groom would wear their wedding crowns for eight days, but now the removal of the crowns is customarily done at the end of the service. The priest says benedictions for the bride and groom and then the dismissal takes place.

Sri Lana

Wikipedia article: Poruwa ceremony

A Poruwa ceremony is a traditional Sri Lankan wedding ceremony with Buddhist influences. The ceremony takes place on a "Poruwa", a beautifully decorated, traditional wooden platform. The ceremony involves a series of rituals performed by the bride and groom, and their families.

Ukrania

{{Wikimain|Ukrainian wedding traditions]

Ukainian wedding is the traditional marriage ceremony in Ukrainian culture, both in Ukraine and in the Ukrainian diaspora. The traditional Ukrainian wedding featured a rich assortment of folk music and singing, dancing, and visual art, with rituals dating back to the pre-Christian era. Over time, the ancient pagan traditions and symbols were integrated into Christian ones.

Bread and Salt

Wikipedia article: Bread and salt

Wikipedia article: Weddings in the United States

In ancient times, weddings were based out of commodity, rather than desire or love. In fact, the word "wedding" implies the security the groom's family provides to the family of the bride when the couple marries. Additionally, brides were chosen based on their economic worth. The wedding had little to do with love. This trend lasted until the 19th Century, when couples started to marry for love.

During the 19th Century in America, weddings were usually small family gatherings at the home of either the parents of the bride or the parents of the groom. The ceremonies were intimate and not elaborate. The announcement of the newly married couple took place at their church on the Sunday following the wedding. Weddings did not become elaborate until the 1820s and 1830s, when upper class couples would have wedding ceremonies similar to what is common today. Brides usually wore the best dress she owned, so her dress was not always white, as white dresses were impractical to own. Not until the middle of the 19th century did brides start buying a dress made specifically for her wedding day. At the same time, couples began to hire professionals to prepare floral arrangements and wedding cakes, rather than making them at home.

Today, couples in the United States are waiting later in life to get married. The average age for males getting married in the United States is 27 years old, whereas, women's average age is 25.

Viet Nam

Wikipedia article: Traditional Vietnamese wedding

The traditional Vietnamese wedding is one of the most important ceremonies in Vietnamese culture, with influence from Confucian and Buddhist ideologies.

While traditional clothes of Vietnam have always been very diverse depending on the era and occasion, after the Nguyễn Dynasty women began to wear elaborate "o dài for their weddings. These dresses were modeled after the "o mệnh phụ (royal "o dài) of Nguyễn Dynasty court ladies. The style of the Nguyễn Dynasty has remained popular and is still used in current-day Vietnamese wedding attire. The difference between the "o mệnh phụ and the typical "o dài is the elaborateness of its design. The former is usually embroidered with imperial symbols such as the phoenix and includes an extravagant outer cloak. This gown is preferably in red or pink, and the bride usually wears a Khăn đống headdress. The groom wears a simpler male equivalent of the dress, often in the color blue.

Previous to the Nguyễn Dynasty, it is likely that women simply wore fancy, elaborate versions of "o tứ thân.

Jump to: Main Page • Micropedia • Macropedia • Icons • Time Line • History • Life Lessons • Links • Help
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root