page_title: Engagement
section_title: Orthodox Churches
hierarchical_section_title: Engagement / Betrothal / Orthodox Churches
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le sujet principal de cette peinture est une scène de fiançailles&#160;: au premier plan, à gauche, un couple échange des anneaux devant deux témoins et un autre personnage, représenté derrière, plus petit que les autres. Plus au centre, deux suivantes cueillent des fleurs. À droite, on aperçoit un verger clos de murs et d’un édifice à créneaux. À l'arrière-plan se dresse un château, souvent désigné comme le château de Dourdan. Il pourrait aussi s'agir du château de Pierrefonds.
context_page_description: An engagement or betrothal is the relationship between two people who want to get married, and also the period of time between a marriage proposal and a marriage. During this period, a couple is said to be fiancés, betrothed, intended, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged. Future brides and grooms may be called fiancée or fiancé, the betrothed, a wife-to-be or husband-to-be, respectively. The duration of the courtship varies vastly, and is largely dependent on cultural norms or upon the agreement of the parties involved.
  Long engagements were once common in formal arranged marriages, and it was not uncommon for parents betrothing children to arrange marriages many years before the engaged couple were old enough. This is still common in some countries.
context_section_description: In the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Rite of Betrothal is traditionally performed in the narthex (entranceway) of the church, to indicate the couple's first entrance into the married estate. The priest blesses the couple and gives them lit candles to hold. Then, after a litany, and a prayer at which everyone bows, he places the bride's ring on the ring finger of the groom's right hand, and the groom's ring on the bride's finger. The rings are subsequently exchanged three times, either by the priest or by the best man, after which the priest says a final prayer. Originally, the betrothal service would take place at the time the engagement was announced. In recent times, however, it tends to be performed immediately before the wedding ceremony itself. The exchange of rings is not a part of the wedding service in the Eastern Churches, but only occurs at the betrothal. Traditionally, the groom's ring is gold and the bride's ring is silver.
caption: The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry depicting a betrothal. Musée Condé, Chantilly.
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