Wedding
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. 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.
For other uses, see Wedding (disambiguation) and The Wedding (disambiguation).Locations[edit]
In some countries there are restrictions on where a wedding may take place, for example before the Marriage Act 1994, marriages in England and Wales could only take place in authorized religious buildings or civil register offices, but the Act extended the options available to allow weddings in other "approved premises".[11] Cretney identified a wide range of venues which sought approval after the implementation of this legal change, including hotels, stately homes, football grounds, beaches, and former warships. Related outdoor locations could also be approved for weddings after the Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 were adopted.[12]
Wedding ceremony participants also referred to as the wedding party, are the people that participate directly in the wedding ceremony itself.
Depending on the location, religion, and style of the wedding, this group may include only the individual people that are marrying, or it may include one or more brides, grooms (or bridegrooms), persons of honor, bridespersons, best persons, groomsmen, flower girls, pages, and ring bearers.
A "bride's party" consists of those chosen to participate from her family or friends, while a "groom's party" consists of those from his family or friends.
Wedding industry[edit]
The global wedding industry was worth $300 billion as of 2016. The United States wedding industry alone was estimated to be worth $60 billion as of the same year. In the United States, the wedding industry employs over one million people throughout 600,000 businesses and grows 2% each year. The industry has undergone a transition due to the increased use of technology. Bridal websites, blogs,[65] and social media accounts have driven spending up and created new trends and traditions.[66]
In 2016, the median cost of a wedding in the US was around $14,400 ($18,300 in current dollars).[67] (This means that half of the couples spent more than this, and half spent less.) Extravagant spending on weddings is associated with debt stress and short-lived marriages that end in divorce.[68] Couples who spent less than US$10,000 on all wedding-related expenses, who went on a honeymoon trip, and who had a relatively large number of guests in attendance, were the least likely to divorce.[68] (The cost of the honeymoon itself had no effect.[68]) Couples who start their marriage in debt are more likely to have fights early on their marriage which can lead to divorce.[69] The best way to avoid disagreement is to have open communication with families and plan based on means.[69]
A wedding tax is the concept of goods or services being purchased for a wedding being more expensive when compared to other events such as a family reunion or anniversary.[70] It is also known as a wedding markup.[71] In 2016, an article published by Consumer Reports identified that 28% of secret shoppers who queried vendors would be charged a "wedding tax".[72] Vendors may charge more because they perceive wedding clients as more demanding or unfamiliar with industry standards.[71] Weddings can also be more time and labour intensive events for the vendor. Wedding clients may also receive a markup simply because they are more likely to pay compared to other consumers.[73]
