Weddings and Marriage Customs
How the world celebratesThe legal doorway to marriage differs by place.
Quick answers
| Place | When is it? | How the date is set |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Date to be confirmed | Everyday topic |
| Brazil | Date to be confirmed | Everyday topic |
| China | Date to be confirmed | Everyday topic |
| Indonesia | Date to be confirmed | Everyday topic |
| India | Date to be confirmed | Everyday topic |
| Japan | Date to be confirmed | Everyday topic |
| Taiwan | Date to be confirmed | Everyday topic |
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Asked by the 🇺🇸 English community
For the 🇮🇳 हिन्दी community
How many days did the last wedding you attended last?
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Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch
A working ranch west of Loveland that its own site lists as a wedding venue, with two outdoor ceremony sites along the Big Thompson River, an indoor-outdoor reception lodge and guest cabins.
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How the world celebrates
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How is it done in Brazil?
Marriage in Brazil is handled by the Civil Code: from eighteen a person may marry freely; from sixteen to under eighteen requires the consent of parents or guardians; under sixteen marriage is not permitted. The wedding itself may be at a civil registry, a church, outdoors or at a venue, with music, food and family involvement varying by region and faith. Because what the law requires is the registration, the religious rite and the civil registration are often arranged in Brazil as two separate events. The civil registration can be done at the registry office or with the registrar coming to the wedding venue, and both count equally.
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How is it done in China?
Mainland China has the highest statutory marriage age of the seven places here: Article 1047 of the Civil Code sets it at not earlier than twenty-two for men and twenty for women. The same code puts the age of majority at eighteen — so in mainland China there is a gap of two to four years between becoming an adult and being able to marry, which none of the other six have. The form of the wedding itself — registration, the fetching of the bride, tea offering, the banquet, bride price — varies enormously by region, but that age line is uniform nationwide. The day the certificate is collected and the day of the banquet are often months apart, and the two are treated as separate undertakings.
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How is it done in Indonesia?
Indonesia amended its 1974 marriage law through Law No. 16 of 2019, raising the minimum marriage age for women from sixteen to nineteen, the same as men; below that age a couple must first obtain a dispensation from the religious court. The stated reasoning is explicit: raising the age for women lowers the birth rate and reduces the risk of maternal and infant death. An actual wedding stacks state registration, religious rite and adat local tradition together, with Javanese, Balinese and Sumatran practice each carrying its own full sequence. The religious marriage and the state registration are usually completed on the same day, in that order: rite first, registration after.
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How is it done in India?
Marriage in India is handled by each community's personal law alongside the secular Special Marriage Act, so there is more than one legal route to being married: registration under Hindu, Muslim, Christian or other personal law, or under the Special Marriage Act that works across religions. The wedding itself is often a sequence of rites over several days, with defined roles for kin, clothing and catering. Within one country, two weddings may be governed by two different statutes. Registration and ceremony are often two separate days: the first at a registry office, the second at a venue the families arrange.
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How is it done in Japan?
In Japan a marriage comes into being when the marriage notification is submitted and accepted, separately from any ceremony. The amendment in force on 1 April 2022 raised the minimum marriage age for women from sixteen to eighteen, matching men — the same amendment that lowered the age of majority to eighteen. The ceremony itself may be Shinto, Christian, a secular vow before guests, or nothing at all; whether to hold a reception, and at what scale, is increasingly treated as an individual choice rather than an obligation. The filing date can be chosen freely, so many people deliberately take the form in on an anniversary or an auspicious day.
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How is it done in Taiwan?
Taiwan has used registration marriage since 2008: a marriage takes effect when it is registered at a household registration office, and the ceremony itself carries no legal force. The 2021 Civil Code amendment set the engagement age at seventeen and the marriage age at eighteen for everyone, in force from 2023. So a couple can register first and pick a date for the banquet later; the legally binding day and the day the family remembers are often not the same day. The date of the ceremony is often chosen by a specialist and arranged separately from the day of registration.
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How is it done in United States?
The United States has no national marriage law: licences and marriage records are handled by each state's vital records office, and the requirements, fees, waiting periods and the licence's own expiry all differ by state, most expiring somewhere between thirty days and a year. So 'how to get married' is a state question in the United States, not a national one. Religious, courthouse, outdoor and venue weddings all coexist, and couples decide for themselves how much religion, family and personal style to combine. The officiant may be clergy, a judge, or a friend who obtained the authority for the occasion, with the rules differing by state.
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