Getting Married in Britain
Как известно, все браки заключаются на небесах, а оформляются на земле. И вот тут уже появляются свои тонкости и различия.
Как выйти замуж / пожениться по-английски?
When it comes to wedding regulations, the UK is surprisingly strict. There are 3 places to get married:
Register office
Civil (which means non-religious) ceremony in a venue specifically licensed to conduct weddings such as a castle, hotel etc
Church
For a civil ceremony you must give notice at your local register office. Your notice will be publicly displayed in the register office for 28 days. Remember, in "Jayne Eyre" when the heroine was getting married to Mr. Rochester the vicar in the church said: "If any of you know the reasons why this man and this woman cannot be married, speak now or keep silent forever?" And then, of course, the witness came out and told everybody that Mr. Rochester had already got a wife… Well, giving notice is the modern take on "speak now or keep silent forever" policy.
You can only give notice at a register office if you have lived in the registration district for at least the past 7 days. When you go to the register office, you need to take proof of your name, age and nationality. For example your valid passport, etc. The registrar also needs proof of your address, for example a valid driving license; gas, water or electricity bill from the last 3 months; current tenancy agreement or similar documents. You each need to pay a fee when you attend the register office to give notice. If you’ve been married before, you need to take either a decree absolute or the death certificate of your former partner.
There are different rules for religious ceremonies. A religious wedding can take place at a church or chapel. You don’t usually need to give notice with the register office if you’re getting married in an Anglican church and both you and your partner are British citizens or come from the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Officials performing Anglican marriages will register your marriage.
The traditional ceremony begins with a flower girl strewing daisies along the path to the church, followed in close succession by the bride accompanied by her bridesmaids. The bridesmaids wear dresses very similar to the bride’s, a tradition that dates to the country's roots as a far province of the Roman Empire. In those days, robbers and highwayman often abducted a bride as she made her way to the church; bridesmaids dressed as brides were meant to ward off the wrongdoers. The tradition exists today to confuse anyone who might wish the wedding ill.
Wedding ceremonies usually include vows. You must exchange some formal wording when you’re getting married and then exchange rings. The wedding ring is itself an English custom. King Edward VI, who ruled during the 15th Century, designated the third finger of the left hand as the official wearing place for all wedding rings within his kingdom. Though the earliest rings were probably made of iron, in time the golden wedding band came to represent the new family’s wealth.
Civil ceremonies can include readings, songs or music, but must not include anything that’s religious, e.g. hymns or readings from the Bible. You’ll need to have at least 2 witnesses at the ceremony. You, your partner and your 2 witnesses must sign the marriage register.
After the ceremony the bride, groom and their guests proceed to a restaurant where the reception takes place. There are toasts to the happy couple, nice food and drinks, dancing and everything which is typical for every wedding in the world.
What is interesting, is that the guests from the bride and groom’s sides are seated separately from each other, just in case. A Russian saying "there is no good wedding without a good fight" comes into mind, but this might just be me…
And the best man usually gives a very looooooong speech, which as we know from a lot of movies, tells the guests how great a guy the groom is and also includes some slightly embarrassing stories from his past.
Then the bride dances with her father and he ceremonially passes her hand to the new husband and this is the first dance of the married couple. Then the real party starts and there are no more rules!
Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed it! Remember subscribe to Perfect English Blog, and to check back in the future for more posts to come.
