Wedding Rituals

Abstract

Abstract Wedding rituals mark a special occasion because, traditionally, the day of the marriage was perceived as representing a major change in the individuals' lives. In the early twenty‐first century, individualization and detraditionalization theses emphasize that individuals are more free to make their own choices than in the past, and thus many people incorporate a personalized narrative into the construction of their wedding day, stressing their desire for the wedding “they want” in “the way they choose.” There is increasing use of creative adaptations and adjustments around various wedding rituals in terms of legitimizing the diversification and pluralization of relationships in contemporary western society, such as commitments between same‐sex couples, and de facto unions. Despite these changes and debates surrounding the so‐called deinstitutionalization of western marriage, wedding rituals' symbolism remains and crosses time, space, and cultures.