Wedding Customs
From FiranMUX
Contents |
Pre-wedding Customs
Typically, the male friends of the groom will endeavour to toast his impending nuptials in some great wine-soaked party. In many cases, particularly involving nobles or those of the eagle clan this will involve a trip to the dove, or the hiring of an Honoria to ensure the young groom 'knows what to do'.
Female friends of the bride will often have a more stately affair than that thrown for the groom, tea-parties being common, particularly among women of the bear clan. While the men drink and toast, women will often give small, personal gifts to their female friend or words of advice for her upcoming marriage.
For a widow or widower to marry again, they must be unbound from the spirit of their dead spouse. In Firan culture, the soul of the dead wife or husband must release the partner to move forward to new relationships. This ritual must be performed by a priest and it is traditional to wait at least three months after one is unbound before marrying again.
In 38 AU a notable change came in the perception of many people in the city towards the marriages of commoner women. Owing to a number of accusations and convictions for child abuse, many temples began to insist that commoner girls could not marry without having some relevant childcare experience - either through working as a nanny, or having assisted their own parents with the raising of their siblings. Over time this attitude became firmer in every temple save that of Srenna, where it was not supported.
Wedding Ceremony Customs
Guests will most often begin to gather an hour or more before the ceremony is due to begin, frequently seeking out friends, or avoiding enemies. While the couple are within the maze, the guests may produce, or have their servants collect, their presents for the couple, thereby ensuring they do not know who gave what present and judging all equally.
In the Cockatrice clan, it is not unheard of for the groom to attend the wedding without knowing he is to be the groom, only learning of his imminent wedding when the bride appears and the priest calls him forwards. It's for this reason that clan guards are often in attendance.
While frowned upon, some couples, finally free of the stress and constant-surrounds of their friends and family take the opportunity of peace and quiet in the maze to get to know eachother better.
For royal weddings, the maze is typically swept by royal guards on the morning of the wedding, then guarded until after the couple have emerged.
Each temple may have its own individual customs or traditions that accompany the performing of the wedding ceremony, see <inert link here> for examples of these.
Post-Wedding Customs
After the wedding, the couple will typically lead a procession of their guests and well-wishers who tag along to the post-wedding party. For commoners this is often a simple affair, sometimes held within a tavern that has agreed to host the event. For nobles only their households will do and the servants will have prepared a lavish feast.
Some nobles arrange for food and drink to be given away freely outside their gates for any commoners who wish to come and toast the new couple, this is most common for royal weddings and is seen as a popular move by their clan. For nobles of the Eagle Clan, providing wine for their commoners is seen as an expected right.
At the post-wedding party, many toasts and cheers to the couple will be made and it is thought impolite to discuss politics or business until after the couple have retired.
Ticanee Customs
As well as the tradition of the wedding tent, there are several, particularly Ticanee, customs that surround the weddings of the more shamanistic people.
At times, guests of the wedding might release an animal or two into the maze, allowing the couple to hunt together and be blooded alongside one another before emerging, ideally with even more meat for the post-wedding party.
Many Ticanee, taking their inspiration from the Oshta, forbid their unmarried daughters from ever entering a tent alone with a single man believing that, if they do so, they are essentially married or perceived married from that point. If a single man or woman ever perform the ritual to Eesha within a tent, then they are assuredly considered married from that point as if they had performed the ritual of assertion.
For very traditional Ticanee weddings the couple being married wear nothing but blue body paint to the ceremony.
Wedding Gifts
- As well as a wedding tent being found at every Ticanee celebration, the Ticanee often give such a tent to a favoured couple on being invited to their wedding.
- Loincloths are a common gift to non-Ticanee by their savage brethren. Firans seem to never be sure if it's a joke or not.
- For the first born son of a clan leader, a horse is a common gift from well-moneyed relatives.
- For the children of a soldier, a weapon, or even a full-suit of armour is seen as a well-favoured gift, particularly for devotees of Srenna.
- Glasswork is a common gift from the middle-classes upwards, being appreciated by most polite members of society.
- For crafters, a new set of tools are appropriate; it's considered ill-mannered to give a crafter something they could have made themselves.
- If money is to be given, it's always presented in a small pouch (or strong-box) so as to conceal the amount of the largesse.
- Perfume is a common gift for the lady of the house of any social class, but obviously the array and complexity of it varies with social standing.
- On the occasion of a sponsor's wedding, it's traditional for their sponsorees to present them with a particularly fine example of their work, or a sizeable monetary gift if they're not a crafter so show their appreciation for the sponsor's protection and efforts on their behalf.
Dowries
Whenever a commoner marries into a nobleman's family, the commoner's family is expected to pay a dowry. This money becomes the property of the noble and can be used as he, or she, wishes. It is acceptable for this money to be borrowed, but it is not acceptable for the noble to have to pay back the moneylender after the marriage. See news dowries
See also Marriage
