How do you handle wedding traditions in your writing? I have not been to a point in my writing where I wanted to start creating wedding traditions but I am already brainstorming. How close do you think you'll keep fantasy wedding traditions to traditions you are familiar with in real life?
-
Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!
Wedding Traditions
- Thread starter Gryffin
- Start date
Kevlar
Troubadour
I haven't worked this out much but I have decided against rings. Though in the modern world it's simply an empty symbol, I do believe wedding rings began as a religious practice.
In fact, religion should be the driving force of wedding ceremonies. The local ceremonies will have been developed by the dominant religion, and even irreligious people will probably follow them. For instance, in one culture it might be bizarre not to have at least three sacrifices at a wedding, while another might involve planting a tree. Yet another could require braiding hair together, or the man (or woman) welding (talking about forge-welding here) one link of chain to another. These are all off the top of my head.
In fact, religion should be the driving force of wedding ceremonies. The local ceremonies will have been developed by the dominant religion, and even irreligious people will probably follow them. For instance, in one culture it might be bizarre not to have at least three sacrifices at a wedding, while another might involve planting a tree. Yet another could require braiding hair together, or the man (or woman) welding (talking about forge-welding here) one link of chain to another. These are all off the top of my head.
The Blue Lotus
Auror
Myself I stick to the traditions of the region, since most of my work takes place on our world.
ScipioSmith
Sage
I haven't gone into great detail on it, but so far I think my wedding traditions involve two ceremonies: one in front of the local religion, and the other before the Imperial notary (my setting is a multicultural empire with no real state religion). I keep some elements of real world weddings (the bride and groom face each other, side on to the congregation) while adding other elements that fit the world, like the fact that in Corona the bride and groom wade out knee deep into the ocean.
sashamerideth
Banned
My main society does not marry. The clan matriarch tells the girl who she will be mating with until the matriarch says different. The Matriarch also chooses her own mates, sometimes keeping multiple spouses at the same time.
The only ceremony is the Matriarch calling in the involved people and telling them to go make babies.
The only ceremony is the Matriarch calling in the involved people and telling them to go make babies.
mythique890
Sage
This is something I need to think about, as a sort of marriage takes place in my story. I say "sort of" because I'm not dealing with humans and it's more of a spontaneous, involuntary binding. However, the culture I'm dealing with is millions of years old, so they'd definitely have some rituals. I am enamored with the idea of wedding jewelry, so the two "married" characters that I have wear torques because I think torques are cool... even though a ring has better symbolism because it's an eternal circle and all that. Hm.
Weddings are absolutely full to the brim with symbolism, even if most people don't realize it. I'll probably try and think up the things this culture would value, then come up with symbolic ways of representing those things.
Weddings are absolutely full to the brim with symbolism, even if most people don't realize it. I'll probably try and think up the things this culture would value, then come up with symbolic ways of representing those things.
Kelise
Maester
My characters do whatever appeals to them, as they're mostly renegades and it's set well into the future - whether they say something between themselves (my main characters), do something with friends and family (the lesser characters), or simply register something with the local government (the antagonists). The first two options usually trade something (not wedding rings) and the third option don't do anything, as the 'official forms' are enough for them.
Shadoe
Sage
I've done one wedding in Araith. Well, two, actually. There, the only decision to be made and the only "vow" to be said is who is taking who's name. (In Araith, the woman can join the man's family or the man can join the woman's family - it's up to them, and their families.)
In one wedding, a very high-profile one, there was a long procession and the man had to be "judged" by each of the woman's family members as they arrived at the circle house (church), to see if he was good enough to be given a daughter of their house. (Of course, it was all traditional nonsense - the wedding had all been decided and contracts drawn up.) Then the bride finally arrived and the contracts were read and agreed to, then there was another procession (combined this time) back to the house for celebrating. (That part I decided to keep.)
The other wedding was not so ceremonial. As a matter of fact, the woman didn't even know she was getting married.
In one wedding, a very high-profile one, there was a long procession and the man had to be "judged" by each of the woman's family members as they arrived at the circle house (church), to see if he was good enough to be given a daughter of their house. (Of course, it was all traditional nonsense - the wedding had all been decided and contracts drawn up.) Then the bride finally arrived and the contracts were read and agreed to, then there was another procession (combined this time) back to the house for celebrating. (That part I decided to keep.)
The other wedding was not so ceremonial. As a matter of fact, the woman didn't even know she was getting married.
Queengilda
Dreamer
Weddings do crop up in the story I am working on right now. They tend to be a mixture of early Christian and old pagan rights. The choice of who marries who is much more of a family matter and a decision of what the ancestors and the wise woman believe would be best, than an act of love between two people. That way, I can add a bit of extra-marital sex to the story. I love to get conflicts going between characters.
- Thread starter
- #11
It seems like there are a lot of different ways to approach the issue. I think the idea of not having weddings at all is really interesting. I also like the idea of a ceremony used just to seal two people together as mates and not necessarily a part of a love connection. I am still trying to decide what role religion is going to play in traditions of my world.
