traditional tevinter wedding customs
regional customs might vary, do your own spin; everything here is inspired by the marriage customs of the ancient romans, victorian england, sudan and the punjabi customs.
Weddings usually take place either at the groom’s family house or, in case of richer families that wish to show that they can afford that, a house newly acquired specifically for the newlyweds. A wedding consists of preparational ceremonies, the main wedding ceremony, and the celebratory feast.
The bridesmaids and the bridegroomsmen should be unmarried younger sisters and brothers of the couple—the number of each must be equal, so if there are not enough siblings on one side, an unmarried younger cousin might be chosen. If there are no siblings or cousins to be chosen from, a pleasant-looking unmarried friend will do.
The engagement usually is settled by the heads of the two families that are meant to be joined through that union. The engagement period usually lasts up to a few months, usually as long as it is required for everything to be arranged; there is a popular tale about a cunning young enchantress who didn’t want to marry the man her father chosen for her, and so she would come up with various ways to prolong the engagement period for years and years until her betrothed suffered an accident and died.
A few days before the wedding ceremony, a party is held at the bride-to-be house where her hands and feet are decorated with henna (some altus families infuse henna with magic, leading to effects like moving patterns, color-changing, shimmer etc.); the hands of the bridesmaids and other female relatives are too decorated with henna.
The ceremony starts in front of the door of the family home or the new home, with the chantry priest and the heads of the two families standing, waiting. It is customary for the young couple to fall to the paterfamilias feet and ask for the blessing; groom at bride’s guardian feet, bride at groom’s guardian feet.
Afterwards, the vows are exchanged. The ceremony ends with the doors being opened, and with the groom either extending his hand to the bride and leading her through the main doorway or carrying her bridal style through the threshold. They lead the guests to the celebratory feast.
The feast is started by the bride when she lights a lamp (with a torch or magic) which is offered to her by the groom.
The wedding night starts by the groom untying the bride’s girdle in silence in front of the guests.
(brought to you by my friend asking me to help him with wedding clothes for Dorian)
