Mostly what comes to mind when thinking about weddings is a beautiful white dress, wedding vows and probably a church. But each religion has its own, unique customs when it comes to wedding. Here you can find a quick guide to the biggest religions’ wedding ceremonies customs.
Christian wedding
Christian wedding ceremonies vary between denominations but mostly, they all come to pledging devotion, dedication and faithfulness by both bride and groom in front of a priest or a pastor. According to tradition, the groom is not allowed to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony as it brings bad luck. The ceremony can be held in either outdoors or inside a church, where it can be a part of the Mass. It is mostly followed by a wedding party to which friends and family are invited to celebrate new Holy Matrimony. Customarily it is the bride’s family that pays bill for the party (nowadays it is popular that both families share expenses).
Hinduism wedding
In Hinduism it is also the bride’s family that pays for the wedding but also has to prepare a big dowry that the bride to come brings into the matrimony. Even after it is settled, the groom’s family can demand something expensive right before the wedding. The marriage is always very well thought trough, talked over and negotiated. Horoscopes and fortunes play a major role in the process. The wedding ceremony is very traditional. The groom arrives to the wedding tent on a horse or an elephant in the wedding suite, where he is greeted by the bride’s father with honey and sour milk. He then proceeds to swear the groom to not cheating his daughter in devotion, wealth and pleasure and makes a sacrifice of melted butter and rice. After that the bride casts rice grains into fire and together with her new husband they make the first seven steps, during which he walks over rice mounds. After that the wedding party begins and lasts for many days, including dancing, singing and wedding sweets.
Jewish wedding
Jewish weddings starts with the young couple fasting since morning until the end of the ceremony and signing a ketuba, which is a document stating husband’s duties and the alimony for the wife in case of a divorce. The wedding is taking place under a canopy that symbolises a home, where the groom stands facing the direction of Jerusalem. The bride is being escorted there by both her and her future husband’s mother and has to circle the groom three or seven times. They both drink wine blessed by the rabbi and the man puts a ring on the woman’s finger. The wedding party consists of all men dancing around the young couple, many toasts and speeches and a prayer recited along with seven marital blessings.
Islamic wedding
Islamic wedding is more of a solemn contract signing event than a ceremony - but it is not a rule and doesn’t have to always look this way! The young couple often doesn’t know each other before the wedding and there are separate wedding parties for men and women – which doesn’t stop anyone from enjoying it, the parties often being very revelry. While the contract is being signed, the bride awaits in seclusion with Koran in hand, until she is asked twice to agree to what was written down. The contract contains information such as who would take custody of the children in case of the divorce, if the relationship will be monogamist and the amount of mahr, a payment that the groom pays to the bride’s family. The document is mostly written down by an Immam in a mosque or the bride’s house. After the wedding party the young wife is ceremonially being escorted to move to her husband’s house.
[credits: René Ehrhardt, ilkerender, The Gifted Photographer , Giorgio Montersino]
2 Responses
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The portion about the Muslim weddings is wrong. It makes it look like the marriage is arranged and the bride is always young. That is not true at all. I am a Muslim and my parents met and fell in love, and every Muslim couple I know CHOSE to marry each other. The fact that any marriage is arranged is cultural and NOT religious and should not be included in an explanation of a Muslim wedding. I am not sure weather the information is right about the other religions so the writer should check it and maybe get their information from people who actually practice each religion. But it is a good gesture to try to teach about other religious weddings.
Thank you very much for the comment. Of cpurse, the article is half about wedding customs in religions and half about different cultures - a little bit too much shortening in the title I guess.