When two people get married whether in a civil ceremony or religious one, it is called a wedding. The legal act of marriage generally occurs at the time of signing a marriage license or other legal document, and the wedding is then an opportunity to perform a traditional ceremony and celebrate with friends and family.

There are a great many wedding traditions around the world but the terms bride and groom before the couple are married and wife and husband seem to be universal. Of course other wedding traditions can be much more complicated as soon as you look into different race, social classes and ethnic groups to name a few.

Traditionally the church wedding is the most popular where the ceremony is presided over by a Christian priest. White weddings may be quite normal for those of us that live in the United States, UK, Ireland and the Commonwealth but they are not always accepted worldwide amongst Christian faiths.

A different type of wedding which can be difficult to arrange is a wedding where two couple are married simultaneously, often called a double wedding. This type of wedding ceremony is often organized by a person that has a sibling that wants to get married at the same time.

A destination wedding is any wedding in which the engaged couple and or a majority of their guests travel to attend the ceremony. It doesn't matter exactly where you travel to, whether it is in Egypt or just to Las Vegas it will still be considered a destination wedding.

Whilst it is quite normal for the Irish to have three day weddings, more couples are taking the hint and having their weddings over a weekend which gives them more time to enjoy the occasion. Other weddings come under the term of either themed or special activity weddings which usually take place over a weekend period. This is quite a good idea especially if the bride and groom have similar interests as both they and their guests can stay at the same location.

Although unusual, you can even get married online and it will resemble a normal wedding or you can have characters of yourselves get married. Planning is made easy, with online wedding guides where reliable and friendly vendors are listed. Strangely, if you decide to have a wedding shown online in real time it is called an internet wedding.

Elected and appointed officials can carry out a wedding ceremony which is usually called a civil wedding. Religion doesn't normally play a part in these ceremonies because they are purely a legal requirement. These services often take place in city halls, courthouses and other designated areas of town.

This information has been provided to help people who live primarily in the Western world a better comprehension of just what a wedding is supposed to be.