Friday, December 5, 2008

What is the Real Meaning of a Wedding

By Louis Soul

For those of you who do not know, a wedding is a legal ceremony that commences a union between two people. Marriage is still a legal contract despite the religious background and requires that the couple sign the marriage certificate in front of witnesses before the marriage can be legally accepted.

A woman taking part in the ceremony is called a bride, a man called a bridegroom, after the ceremony they become a wife and a husband, respectively. Of course other wedding traditions can be much more complicated as soon as you look into different race, social classes and ethnic groups to name a few.

Many people, whether religious or not, still prefer to have a traditional wedding performed by a recognized religious minister in a Church of their choice. Primarily in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States and the British Commonwealth, these ceremonies are known as white weddings.

A double wedding is a single ceremony where two couples rendezvous for two separate weddings. This type of wedding ceremony is often organized by a person that has a sibling that wants to get married at the same time.

Nowadays as the world shrinks it is much easier for couples to arrange a wedding in another country and have the guests travel to them with the honeymoon continuing without any further travel. 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 weekend wedding is a wedding in which couples and their guests celebrate over the course of a weekend. Themed weddings can involve golf, hang-gliding, shooting or any type of venue you can imagine. Accommodation for these weddings is normally arranged at the place the wedding is going to take place and the other events are being held.

An online wedding is a wedding that is either conducted on the internet, or can be an event that resembles a normal wedding when two people who wish their characters, perhaps in a game, to be married. Planning is made easy, with online wedding guides where reliable and friendly vendors are listed. This does actually have an interesting angle where relatives and friends from around the world can see the wedding take place in real time without actually being there.

Elected and appointed officials can carry out a wedding ceremony which is usually called a civil wedding. Religion doesn't normally play a part in these ceremonies because they are purely a legal requirement. These services often take place in city halls, courthouses and other designated areas of town.

This information has been provided to help people who live primarily in the Western world a better comprehension of just what a wedding is supposed to be. - 15431

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