page_title: Engagement
section_title: Betrothal
hierarchical_section_title: Engagement / Betrothal
caption_attribution_description: বাংলা: এনগেজমেন্ট উপহার ঝুড়ি, বাংলাদেশ। English: Engagement gifts basket, Bangladesh.
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: Betrothal (also called espousal) is a formal state of engagement to be married.
  In Jewish weddings during Talmudic times (c.1st century BC – 6th century AD), the two ceremonies of betrothal (erusin) and wedding usually took place up to a year apart; the bride lived with her parents until the actual marriage ceremony (nissuin), which would take place in a room or tent that the groom had set up for her. Since the Middle Ages the two ceremonies have taken place as a combined ceremony performed in public. The betrothal is now generally part of the Jewish wedding ceremony, accomplished when the groom gives the bride the ring or another object of at least nominal value. As mentioned above, betrothal in Judaism is separate from engagement; breaking a betrothal requires a formal divorce, and violation of betrothal is considered adultery.
  Typical steps of a match were the following:
  Negotiation of a match, usually done by the couple's families with bride and groom having varying levels of input, from no input, to veto power, to a fuller voice in the selection of marriage partner.
  This is not as widely practiced as it was historically, although it is still common in culturally conservative communities in Israel, India, Africa, and Persian Gulf countries, although most of these have a requirement that the bride be at least allowed veto power.
  Negotiation of bride price or dowry
  In most cultures evolved from Europe, bride prices or dowries have been reduced to the engagement ring accompanying the marriage contract, while in other cultures, such as those on the Arabian Peninsula, they are still part of negotiating a marriage contract.
  Blessing by the parents and clergy
  Exchange of Vows and Signing of Contracts
  Often one of these is omitted
  Celebration
  The exact duration of a betrothal varies according to culture and the participants’ needs and wishes. For adults, it may be anywhere from several hours (when the betrothal is incorporated into the wedding day itself) to a period of several years. A year and a day are common in neo-pagan groups today. In the case of child marriage, betrothal might last from infancy until the age of marriage.
  The responsibilities and privileges of betrothal vary.  In most cultures, the betrothed couple is expected to spend much time together, learning about each other.  In some historical cultures (including colonial North America), the betrothal was essentially a trial marriage, with marriage only being required in cases of conception of a child.  Almost all cultures are loosening restrictions against physical contact between partners, even in cultures that normally had strong prohibitions against it.  The betrothal period was also considered to be a preparatory time, in which the groom built a house, started a business or otherwise proved his readiness to enter adult society.
  In medieval Europe, in canon law, a betrothal could be formed by the exchange of vows in the future tense ("I will take you as my wife/husband," instead of "I take you as my wife/husband"), but sexual intercourse consummated the vows, making a binding marriage rather than a betrothal.  Although these betrothals could be concluded with only the vows spoken by the couple, they had legal implications: Richard III of England had his older brother's children declared illegitimate on the grounds their father had been betrothed to another woman when he married their mother.
  A betrothal is considered to be a 'semi-binding' contract.  Normal reasons for invalidation of a betrothal include:
  Revelation of a prior commitment or marriage
  Evidence of infidelity
  Failure to conceive (in 'trial marriage' cultures)
  Failure of either party to meet the financial and property stipulations of the betrothal contract
  Normally, either party can break a betrothal, though some financial penalty (such as forfeit of the bride price) usually applies. In some common law countries, including England and Wales and many US states, it was once possible for the spurned partner (often only the woman) to sue the other for breach of promise or "heart-balm". This provide
caption: Modern engagement gifts basket in Bangladesh.
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