FEATURES
Weddings
In the UK people get married either in a church or a
registry office (a local government building). In the US
people often get married in a house , a park, a hotel, or
wedding chapel, as well as in a church. The traditional
wedding, called a white wedding as the bride wears a
white dress, takes place in a church.
The Main People at a Wedding
The bride is the woman who is getting married.
Traditionally she wears a long white dress and
a veil, and carries a bouquet of flowers. She also
wears «something old, something new, something
borrowed, and something blue» to bring her luck. The
bridegroom (also called the groom) is the man who
is getting married. He wears a suit, or something a
tuxedo in the US, or a morning suit in the UK.
away (to walk to the front of the church with her and
formally give permission for her to marry). The bride
and her farther walk slowly up to the aisle and the
bridesmaids follow. When the bride and bridegroom
are together at the altar, the priest begins the wedding
service. He or she asks if there is anyone present who
knows of any legal reason why the couple should not
get married. Then the bride and groom exchange the
traditional vows. It is sometimes possible to change
the vows or even white your own. «I, Jane Smith, take
thee, David Jones, to be my lawful wedded husband,
to have and to hold from this day forth, for better, for
worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish forsaking all others, until death
do us part.»
The couple then give each other a gold ring and say,
Before the Ceremony
“With this ring I thee wed” (I marry you).
It is considered bad luck if the bridegroom sees the
At the end of the ceremony, the priest says, “I
bride on the morning of the wedding. The bridegroom pronounce you man and wife,” which means that they
arrives first at the church and waits at the altar with the are officially married. The husband and wife then sign
best man. The best man is responsible for bringing the the register (the official record of their marriage).
wedding ring, and there are many jokes about him
loosing or forgetting it. The bride arrives at the church
There’s a big difference between falling in love with
in a car with her father. There are often jokes about the someone and falling in love with someone and getting
bride being late, and the groom being very nervous as married. Usually, after you get married, you fall in love
he waits and worries that she may not come.
with the person even more.
The Ceremony
It is traditional for the bride’s farther to give her
Dave Grohl
4 missLINGVA / Autumn, 2015