A wedding consists of basically four elements: gathering, ritual, vows, and celebration.

The traditional wedding ceremony derives from a combination of ancient cultural practices and church liturgy. Marriage itself has a less-than-romantic history in much of the world until more recent times. The union of bride and groom inspired by friendship, love and devotion is a concept that only began to form about 500 years ago in Western cultures. Even then, marriages of choice that followed a lengthy courtship were a luxury of the aristocracy. Marriage was usually a purely social and political contract, controlled in every way by church, state, and extended family.

Within this deeply conservative framework, women in particular had very little leeway, and no economic or political power. Historically, women were considered property of their husband. In traditional marriages even today, women vow to