ABSTRACT
As Ronald Grimes stated in 2000, ‘Weddings in North America, as in Europe, are the rites of passage’ (Grimes 2000: 153). Interestingly, the so-called ‘Online-Weddings’ are also the rites of passage in online games and Virtual Worlds! But what can be deduced from such an observation when we look at weddings online or weddings in games, such as ‘Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games’ (the so-called MMORPGs)? Are they ‘really’ rituals or ‘just’ a game, a mere play or imitation of a wedding? What are the differences between an offline and an online wedding? Are there any? This essay presents the Virtual 3D Environment Second Life and Online-Weddings within this Virtual World and discusses them as new fields of ritual research and inquiry.
