page_title: Wedding
section_title: Wedding ceremony participants
hierarchical_section_title: Wedding / Wedding ceremony participants
caption_attribution_description: Stephen: "I'm sure Susan will turn up!"
context_page_description: A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple, presentation of a gift, and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are also commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs originating in Ancient Rome.
context_section_description: Wedding ceremony participants also referred to as the wedding party, are the people that participate directly in the wedding ceremony itself.
  Depending on the location, religion, and style of the wedding, this group may include only the individual people that are marrying, or it may include one or more brides, grooms (or bridegrooms), persons of honor,  bridespersons, best persons, groomsmen, flower girls,  pages, and ring bearers.
  A "bride's party" consists of those on her side, while a "groom's party" consists of those on his side.
  Bride: The woman about to be married.
  Bridegroom or Groom: The man about to be married.
  Marriage officiant: The person who officiates at the wedding, validating the wedding from a legal and/or religious standpoint. This person may be a judge, justice of the peace, or a member of the clergy. In Hindu marriages, the marriage officiant is called a pandit or Brahmin.
  Best Man, Woman, or Person: The chief assistant to a bridegroom at a wedding, typically a sibling or friend of special significance in his life. Often holds the wedding rings until their exchange.
  Mothers of the Bride and Groom
  Fathers of the Bride and Groom
  Maid, Matron or Man of Honor: the title and position held by a bride's chief attendant, typically her closest friend or sibling.
  Bridesmaids: the female attendants to a bride. Males in this role may be called honor attendants or sometimes bridesmen, but that term has a different traditional meaning.
  Groomsmen or Ushers: The attendants, usually male, to a bridegroom in a wedding ceremony.  Female attendants, such as a sister of the groom, are typically called honor attendants.
  Pages: Young attendants may carry the bride's train. In a formal wedding, the ring bearer is a special page that carries the rings down the aisle. The coin bearer is a similar page that marches on the wedding aisle to bring the wedding coins.
  Flower girls: In some traditions, one or more children carry bouquets or drop flower petals in front of the bride in the wedding procession.
caption: Waiting for the bride. From left: priest, groom and ushers in New Zealand wearing Scottish kilts.
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