A wedding is a religious ceremony in which two individuals are legally united in marriage under the church’s traditional authority. Different wedding traditions and customs greatly vary between religious groups, cultures, regions, and other social groups. Some wedding traditions such as those of the Orthodox Church involve a bride and groom exchange thirteen marks or their wedding rings as a symbolic sign of their agreement to be wed. Other wedding traditions are not so conventional.
In an Islamic wedding, the wedding ceremony is performed by a judge who presides over a wedding between a man and a woman. Under Islamic law, women are allowed to travel in the home of a male partner and they do not have the right to demand money from their potential husband in order to remarry him. The payment for the wedding is also set before the wedding ceremony takes place. A Muslim couple may choose to exchange their wedding rings during the wedding ceremony. They will then put them on separate fingers.
Hindu weddings follow a prescribed ritual in which both the bride and the groom take their rings from their matching fingers. This ring ceremony symbolizes the marriage contract between the two. Both the bride and the groom then hold their hands together to seal the marriage contract. The wedding vows written down by a priest are recited by both the bride and the groom. The wedding feast is followed by gifts and Banjara or rice dish with sweets is distributed to everyone in the wedding party.
An ancient Indian wedding ritual includes lotus flowers as the symbol of beauty and femininity. The lotus flower starts to bloom after a year and is believed to bring wealth and prosperity to the happy married life. To be able to win the hand of the future bride, lotus flowers are given as gifts to her family members. This wedding ceremony is called “Magh Mela”. The bride and the groom then take leave after eating lotus flowers in a special occasion called “Chhath Puja”.
Greek wedding traditions have a slightly different story. There is no exchange of wedding rings but rather a festival is held to honor the newlyweds. Wedding invitations are printed on sacred paper which is considered auspicious for the guests. This wedding celebration is known as “Iphigenia” or “The Giving of Lots”. The bride wears white while the groom wears a gold ring.
Thai wedding traditions focus more on the bride’s family than on her groom. The bride’s family traditionally gives her away to her husband upon his marriage. The wedding ceremony is conducted under the house roof with much of the ceremony performed outdoors. The bride is dressed in white and the wedding feast is provided in a open-air banquet. The couple is also wrapped in bedclothes taken from the bridal couple. A small tree is set on the bank of the river so that the wedding celebrations can continue with the sound of falling water.