The History of Weddings
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 | Places
A form of marriage has been found to exist in all human societies, past and present. Its significance can be seen in the elaborate and complex laws and rituals surrounding it. Although these laws and rituals are as different and plentiful as human social and cultural organizations, some universals do apply.
The crucial legal function of marriage is to ensure the rights of the partners with respect to each other and to establish the rights and define the relationships of children within a community. Marriage has empirically conferred a legitimate status on the offspring, which empowered him or her to the various privileges set down by the culture of that community, including the right of inheritance. In most societies marriage also founded the permissible social relations allowed to the offspring, including the adequate selection of future spouses.
Endogamy, the custom of marrying someone from within one’s own tribe or group, is the oldest social regulation of marriage. When the methods of communication with outside groups are restrictive, endogamous marriage is a natural consequence. Cultural influences to partner within one’s social, economic, and ethnic group are still very strongly enforced in some societies.
Exogamy, the processof marrying outside the group, is found in societies in which kinship partnerships are the most complex, thus excluding from marriage large groups who may trace their lineage to a common ancestor.
In societies in which the large, or extended, family remains the basic unit, marriages are usually arranged by the family. The assumption is that love between the partners comes after marriage, and much thought is given to the socioeconomic advantages accruing to the larger family from the match. By contrast, in societies in which the small, or nuclear, family predominates, young adults usually choose their own mates. It is assumed that love precedes (and determines) marriage, and less thought is normally given to the socioeconomic aspects of the match.
In societies with arranged marriages, the overwhelming custom is that someone acts as an intermediary, or matchmaker. This person’s capitalresponsibility is to arrange a marriage that will be agreeable to the two families represented. Some form of dowry or bridewealth is usually exchanged in societies that favour arranged marriages.
In societies in which individuals choose their own mates, dating is the most typical way for people to meet and become acquainted with prospective partners. Successful dating may result in courtship, which then usually leads to marriage.
Marriage rituals
The rituals and ceremonies surrounding marriage in most cultures are associated primarily with productivity and validate the importance of marriage for the continuation of a clan, people, or society. They also assert a familial or communal sanction of the mutual choice and sympathy of the difficulties and sacrifices involved in making what is considered, in most cases, to be a lifelong commitment to and responsibility for the welfare of spouse and children.
Marriage ceremonies include symbolic rites, often sanctified by a religious order, which are considered to confer good fortune on the couple. Because economic considerations play a crucial role in the fruition of child rearing, the presentation of gifts, both real and symbolic, to the married couple are a meaningful part of the marriage ritual. When the presentation of prevents is extensive, either from the bride’s family to the bridegroom’s or vice versa, this usually indicates that the freedom to choose one’s marital partner has been limited and policed by the families of the betrothed.
Fertility rites intended to ensure a fruitful marriage exist in some form in all ceremonies. Some of the oldest rituals still to exist in contemporary ceremonies include the conspicuous display of fruits or of cereal grains that may be sprinkled over the couple or on their nuptial bed, the companionship of a small child with the bride, and the breaking of an object or food to cultivate a successful consummation of the marriage and an easy childbirth.
The most universal ritual is one that symbolizes a sacred union. This may be expressed by the joining of hands, an exchange of rings or chains, or the tying of garments. However, all the elements in marriage rituals vary greatly among different societies, and components such as time, place, and the social importance of the event are fixed by tradition and habit.
These rituals are, to a certain extent, formed by the religious beliefs and practices found in societies throughout the world. In the Hindu tradition, for example, weddings are highly elaborate affairs, involving several prescribed rituals. Marriages are usually arranged by the parents of the couple, and the time of the ceremony is determined by careful astrological calculations. Among the majority of Buddhists marriage remains chiefly a secular affair, even though the Buddha offered guidelines for the responsibilities of lay householders.
In Judaism marriage is thought to have been established by God and is described as making the individual complete. Marriage involves a double ceremony, which includes the formal betrothal and wedding rites (prior to the 12th century the two were separated by as much as one year). The modern ceremony opens with the groom signing the marriage contract before a group of witnesses. He is then led to the bride’s room, where he lays a veil on her. This is followed by the ceremony under the huppa (a canopy that symbolizes the bridal bower), which includes the reading of the marriage contract, the seven marriage benedictions, the groom’s placing a ring on the bride’s finger (in Conservative and Reform traditions the double ring ceremony has been introduced), and, in most communities, the crushing of a glass under foot. After the ceremony the couple is led into a private room for seclusion, which symbolizes the consummation of the marriage.
From its beginnings, Christianity has emphasized the spiritual nature and indissolubility of marriage. Jesus Christ spoke of marriage as being instituted by God, and the majority Christians consider it a permanent union based upon mutual consent. Some Christian churches count marriage as one of the sacraments, and other Christians confirm the sanctity of marriage but do not consider it as a sacrament. Since the Middle Ages, Christian weddings have taken place before a priest or minister, and the ceremony involves the exchange of vows, readings from Scripture, a blessing, and, sometimes, the eucharistic rite.
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