Wedding

A wedding is the formal ceremony which marks a marriage.

It represents the recognition and marking, by society, of the legal, social and societal changes involved in marriage: the changes of status, the transfer of familial responsibilities (which may also include tarnsfers of property.
In many period cultures the wedding is also the religious ritual sealing the marriage and validating it.

Generally a wedding will also draw approval from its local community, offering an opportunity for celebration and relaxation amongst the rigours of the medieval life.

Some cultures valued the wedding higher than others: in one notable example, a Muslim army relaxed its seige of a Crusader castle, when the Muslim general learned that a wedding had just occurred. Food and drink were allowed in, and impromptu weddings gifts were sent in, to satisfy the proprieties that the wedding couple should be honoured.

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