ABSTRACT
Perhaps the most important aspect of the customs surrounding marriage is the inclusion of family, friends, and community. Wedding ceremonies and celebrations typically involve the people most important to, and closest to, the couple at a landmark moment in their lives. The community is the social milieu out of which one or both of the participants developed as well as a witnessing or sanctioning body for the marriage itself. And whether it is the taking of vows or the tossing of the bouquet, wedding rituals and customs reaffirm the importance of community in married life-and married couples as a building block of community.
