Weddings Around the World

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Weddings Around the World Around the world unique wedding rituals of cultural tradition have similarities as well as differences. So what makes weddings in India so different from weddings in the United States? For both cultures the process begins with the engagement of the couple, then advances to the ceremony and concludes with the celebration. Firstly, is the ritual of the engagement, in India the bride and groom do not meet, an arrangement is made between the father of the bride and the groom’s father. The first time this couple lays eyes on one another is on their wedding day, which the date has been set by an astrologer giving the couple a day of happy fortune. However, in the Western culture of the United States a couple may meet by friends introducing them or at a public social event where they have a shared interest. Unlike the Indian couple, in the United States the man proposes to the woman where together they chose a month and date for their special union. Secondly, the ceremony is the ritual of uniting a couple, a sacred state in which two lives combine, forming a commitment of love, trust, and hope. In both India and the United States the ceremony is a very joyous and colorful occasion. The ceremony is performed in front of family, friends and honored guests where the bride is given away to the groom by the father of the bride or parents of the bride. The unity of the couple is shown by tying the couples’ hands together in India and the lighting of a unity candle in the United States. Similarly showing the gathering a token of love and respect the Indian couple drapes a garland of flowers around each others necks just as the couple in the United States give a ring placed on the fourth finger of the left hand. In contrast the vows in India are not spoken out loud but are given to each other by way of taking seven steps called the Saptapadi. In

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