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American Wedding Customs
The two events that
make up an American wedding are the ceremony and the reception. Between
these two events, the marriage takes place in front of friends and
family, the bride and groom and their witnesses sign the wedding
contract, a celebration is held in honor of the bride and groom. The
customs that are involved in the American wedding are what come together
to make the day complete and memorable for all involved.
Usually, the ceremony location is decided upon first. Whatever the
religion of the couple, the ceremony typically takes place
inside the religious institution. The ceremony will usually include the
bride and groom standing in front of their religious affiliation leader
and all of their friends and family and profess their love and
commitment to one another. Sometimes a unity candle will be present in
which the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom will light
taper candles on either side of the unity candle to represent their
respective child, and then the bride and groom will take the taper
candles and light the unity candle together. This is representative of
the two lives becoming one. This may or may not be followed by a sermon
from the religious leader. The ceremony will then be complete and the
newly married couple will be announced as they head out of the room
together. Sometimes the wedding party will form a line and shake hands
with all of the guests and other times the bride and groom will make
their exit from the church to a location in which they’ve chosen and
corresponded with the photographer to have outdoor photos taken. At this
point the friends and family usually make their way to the reception
hall.
The wedding reception is filled with events. As the bride and groom
arrive to the reception hall, usually after the friends and
family, they and their wedding party will be introduced by the disc
jockey. They will sit at a table referred to as the “head table” which
is usually at the head of the room separated from the guests. As the
dinner begins to come out, the best man and maid of honor each give a
speech honoring the bride and groom and perhaps sharing a story about
them. The meal is then served and sometimes a prayer may be said by a
guest or religious leader if present at the reception. After the meal
the bride has a dance with her father and the groom has a dance with her
mother. It is then customary for each member of the wedding party to
have a dance. After those particular dances, the rest of the guests are
invited to the dance floor to enjoy an evening of dancing and music.
Another popular custom is the cutting of the cake which the bride and
groom will do together and feed one another a piece of the cake. After
this the cake will be distributed to the guests. Other event may take
place throughout the rest of the evening such as the bride tossing her
bouquet to the single women present and the groom tossing the garter to
the single men. This is supposed to be representative of those that will
get married next.
Both wedding and reception are important events with their own customs.
These create a day of joy and thoughts of the future
for those involved. The couple shares this most important day with their
friends and family and all enjoy the special event.
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