Wedding ceremony participants

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.

Wedding ceremony participants

Bride

Wikipedia article: Bride

A bride is a woman about to be married or is a newlywed.

The word may come from the Teutonic word for "cooking". In Western culture, a bride may be attended by one or more bridesmaids.

Her partner, who will become her spouse after the wedding, is referred to as the bridegroom or groom.

Groom

Wikipedia article: Groom

A bridegroom (usually shortened to groom) is the man who is about to be married, or who has just been married.

The word bridegroom is dated to 1604, derived from bride and the archaic goom, from Old English guma, "boy".

A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and groomsmen.

The style of the groom's clothing depends upon the time of day, the location of the ceremony, the style in which the ceremony is performed, and whether the groom is a member of the armed forces. In most parts of the world, active-duty members of the military and some law enforcement agencies wear their military uniforms instead of civilian clothing

Bridesman

Wikipedia article: Bridesman

In contemporary western culture a bridesman is a male friend of the bride, one who walks down the aisle in the bridal ceremony in the traditional place of a bridesmaid.

In many Western marriages, the father of the bride is often the person who walks the bride down the aisle. Once the bride and her father arrive at the pulpit the officiant asks, "Who giveth this woman in matrimony?", to which the father responds, "I do."

The term however has an ancient and obscure origin. The term is first noted by the encyclopedia Judaica from the European Diaspora of the middle of the 13th century. In this context A bridesman was not a friend of the bride but of the groom. He paid for and arranged the wedding from his own money and would be repaid someday by the groom. It was a position of the highest level of honor in male friendship.

Maid of honor

Wikipedia article: Maid of honor

In the United Kingdom, the term "maid of honor" originally referred to the female attendant of a queen. The term bridesmaid is normally used for all bridal attendants in the UK. However, when the attendant is married, or is a mature woman, the term matron of honour is often used. The influence of American English has led to the chief bridesmaid sometimes being called the maid of honor.

In North America, a wedding party might include several bridesmaids, but the maid of honor is the title and position held by the bride's chief attendant, typically her closest friend or sister. In modern day weddings some brides opt to choose a long-time male friend or brother as their head attendant, using the title Best Man or man of honor

Bridesmaid

{{Wikimain|Bridesmaid}

The bridesmaids are members of the bride's wedding party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditionally, bridesmaids were chosen from unwed young women of marriageable age.

The principal bridesmaid, if one is so designated, may be called the chief bridesmaid or maid of honor if she is unmarried, or the matron of honor if she is married. A junior bridesmaid is a girl who is clearly too young to be marriageable, but who is included as an honorary bridesmaid.

Often there is more than one bridesmaid: in modern times the bride chooses how many to ask. Historically, no person of status went out unattended, and the size of the retinue was closely calculated to be appropriate to the family's social status. Then, as now, a large group of bridesmaids provided an opportunity for showing off the family's social status and wealth.

The male equivalent is the groomsman, or usher.

Flower girl

Wikipedia article: Flower girl

A flower girl is a participant in a wedding procession. Like ring bearers and page boys, flower girls are usually members of the bride's or groom's extended family, but may also be friends.

There may be more than one flower girl, particularly if the bride has several young relatives to honor. This practice is more common at British royal weddings, at elaborate weddings modeled after royal weddings, or at Victorian-themed weddings.

Her male equivalent is the ring bearer or page boy. Often the ring bearer and the flower girl are dressed to look like a couple, and they may be dressed in miniature versions of the bride's and bridegroom's clothes.

Best man

Wikipedia article: Best man

The best man is the chief male assistant to the bridegroom at a wedding. In most modern, English-speaking countries, the groom extends this honor to someone who is close to him, generally either a brother or his closest male friend. When the groom wishes to give this honor to a woman, she may be termed the best woman or best person, or may still be referred to as the 'best man'. The bride's equivalent of the best man is the maid or matron of honour. A gender-neutral term is honor attendant.

While the best man's required duties are only those of a friend, in the context of a western white wedding, the best man will typically:

• assist the groom on the wedding day,
• keep the wedding rings safe until needed during the ceremony,
• act as a legal witness to the marriage, and
• make a toast to the bride and groom at the reception. Formerly, the best man would read out the telegrams of those who couldn't attend.

Groomsman

Wikipedia article: Groomsman

A groomsman is one of the male attendants to the bridegroom in a wedding ceremony. The term usher is more common in the UK. Usually the bridegroom selects his closest friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usually chooses one to serve as best man.

For a wedding with many guests, the groom may also ask other male friends and relatives to act as ushers without otherwise participating in the wedding ceremony; their sole task is ushering guests to their seats before the ceremony. Ushers may also be hired for very large weddings.

In a military officer's wedding, the roles of groomsmen are replaced by swordsmen of the sword honor guard. They are usually picked as close personal friends of the groom who have served with him. Their role includes forming the traditional saber arch for the married couple and guests to walk through.

Page boy

Wikipedia article: Page boy

A page boy is a young male attendant at a wedding or cotillion. This type of wedding attendant is less common than it used to be, but is still a way of including young relatives or the children of relatives and friends in a wedding. A page is often seen at British royal weddings. There may be many pages for effect at cotillions.

Traditionally, page boys carry the bride's train, especially if she is wearing a dress with a long train. Because of the difficulty of managing the train, page boys are generally no younger than age seven, with older boys being preferred for more complicated duties.

Officiant

Wikipedia article: Marriage officiant

A marriage officiant is a person who officiates at a wedding ceremony.

The officiant may be a Priest, Chaplain or Minister who is a member of the church where-in the marriage is held, or they be a civil officer (Justice of the Peace, Mayor or County Clerk) who performs acts of marriage or civil union. Their main responsibility is to receive and witness the consent of the intended spouses and to ensure the legal formalities, and hence the validity of the marriage or civil union, are observed.

Officiant's duties and responsibilities, as well as who may be an officiant vary among jurisdictions

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