Wedding Ceremony - Essay Example

2:18, 21-24: "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him'.and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh." Over the years however wedding ceremonies have lost their original worth as world has become highly media-sensitive and couples plan their "dream weddings" according to what wedding planners suggest. That was not how things used to be in old times. This definition however fails to highlight the actual meaning and worth of a wedding ceremony.

In most cultures weddings underscored the need for transition from one stage of life to another. It may no longer be seen that way but in Greek cultures for example, wedding marked the transition of a woman from one "oikos" to her new "oikos". "She changed from a parthenos, a maiden, to a nymphe, a married woman without children, when she married and then finally to a gyne, an adult woman, when she bore her first child. The entire set of marriage rites focused on the bride and her relocation to a new oikos and kyrios, the most important transition in her life.

" (Powers, 1997). She would also get rid of her toys and childhood belongings. However the most important part of the ceremony was the hairdo and the dress. Roman bride would wear the dress only once and her hair would be styled in a particular manner. The veil was a must and it had to be worn by all brides. The veil had a very high symbolic value:It continued as one of the main symbols and components of the wedding ceremony, routinely mentioned by many authors. Indeed, the verb used of the woman marrying, nubo, is related to nubes, a cloud, and means literally 'I veil myself'.

From this come nupta, a married woman, nova nupta, a bride, and nuptiae, the wedding. The event turns on the bride and her veiling. (Treggiari, 163)The veil was again an important symbol in Indian weddings. Brides would wear a red dress which was called a sari. This dress would be adorned heavily and the girl would keep her head low so as to appear docile and shy on the day of her wedding. The actually wedding day was preceded by Mayoon, a ritual where girl would be covered with yellow color tumeric mix called Ubtan.

This was done to make her body glow. There would be many other rituals than followed including goad-bharri which was done to make sure that the bride will have children. This was a way of blessing the bride with good omen. In most cultures, wedding was also a sacred ceremony. It had strong religious and cultural worth. In many Muslim cultures for example, bride and groom's families would arrange Milad where people would come together and recite the Holy Quran to invoke God's blessings on the couple.

Similar rituals would take place in other cultures too according to their sacred beliefs. Things