Wedding Ceremony
During the Renaissance in England, religious wedding ceremonies were
not as commonplace as they are today. A couple could exchange promises
in front of witnesses (or often times privately) and this was considered
a
legally binding marriage
in the eyes of the law. The formal procedure for
marriage was; after the couple
announced their intent to wed, the church
would read the Bans three times over
a three week period. Sometimes if time
was of the essence (meaning the bride
was already with child) the bans may
simply have been read once. If no objections
to the marriage arose, the
couple would once again exchange consent or "vows"
at the church door.
If the bride was a virgin her hands bare, if the
bride had been widowed,
she wore gloves.
When people had arrived at the church door, men stood on
the the right side and
women on the left. In some areas the
entire service was
in Latin, in other regions only
parts of the ceremony was in Latin,
the others
were spoken in the vernacular.
The couple would ask the couple to
exchange
their vows and next, the priest blessed the
ring. The priest sprinkled the ring
with holy water and then the groom placed the ring
first on his bride's
thumb, then index
finger, next long finger. The priest would then
bless the
couple and everyone entered the church
for the "bridal mass."
The Bridal Mass consisted of prayers, readings from the scripture and
the bridal benediction.
This was followed by Holy Communion. The priest
might say, "I
now pronounce
you man and wife", but this was not yet
widespread. In German
and French ceremonies
the priest might say, May
the God of Abraham, Isac
and Jacob
unite you."
Here's a copy of a Wedding
Ceremony--1662 Book of Prayers. In
remote areas and
some areas of
Scotland the Handfasting Ritual was
performed, and is still celebrated
by couples today
as an alternative to a
Religious ceremony.
After the celebratory party or feast there was the "bedding", the final
stage to consummate
the marriage. The Church adopted this tradition from
the pagans and converted
it from a legalizing act into a final blessing of the
newly wed couple's matrimonial
bed.
Interested in what Martin Luther had to
say about marriage
and the role of women?
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Sources
