Wedding Customs

Wedding ceremonies may contain any number of different elements, especially when a couple's culture or religious values are an integral part of their lives. Most ceremonies typically contain some wedding vows of some kind and a proclamation of marriage. Most weddings also involve wearing the traditional clothes of their cultures. Some attire examples are the popular wedding gown used by the western culture, the qipao used by the Chinese culture, the ao dai, used by the Vietnamese culture, or the well-known kimono used by the Japanese cultures.

A wedding is often followed or accompanied by a wedding reception/party. Decorations for the wedding party again, also depends on the couple's values, so one may find the popular candle wedding favors decorating each wedding tables or even discover that each party guest has been given a unique wedding favor to commemorate the elegant wedding party.

Other elements of a ceremony may include music, prayer, poetry, or other traditions. In most societies a number of traditions or customs have emerged around the wedding ceremony, but at the same time, many traditions and values have lost their original symbolic meaning in the ever-changing modern world. But with out the old, comes some new recent wedding traditions. For example, in the Western society, wedding ceremony symbolize the bride's entry into a new family with her husband while departing from her father's control.

A wedding's particular customs may be varied, mixed, or invented to suit the personalities, interests, and cultural backgrounds of the couple.