Wedding Ethnographic Analysis

Weddings are the most wonderful day of someone’s life; it is a ceremony in which two people are united through marriage. Weddings are ceremonies that can be completely customizable, but also have a pattern that they tend to follow. A wedding can be analyzed through the speaking model of ethnography. One of the important parts of the speaking model is conducting interviews of the people involved in the event. In this case married couples, wedding party members, and wedding guests were interviewed in order to fully understand a wedding. What was learned from these interviews is that weddings are about the couple that is about to be married and what they want the theme of their wedding to be. Themes can be literally anything from a color scheme …show more content…
The order of events at the reception also follows a pattern and each step holds symbolic meaning. The reception starts with the cocktail hour, which is when all of the guests start to arrive, relax, and have fun. This portion of the night only lasts until the bride, groom, and wedding party arrive. This gives the guests time to relax and talk with each other. Second, the wedding party is announced and they enter the room. This draws attention to the stars of the event. The first dance as a married couple will occur to a song of the couple’s choice, which symbolizes their unity to one another. It also symbolizes the sexual closeness the couple can now share together. The second dance occurs between the father and daughter; this is to give the father one more farewell to his daughter before she ‘belongs’ to another man. After the dances are performed, toasts are made by the best man, maid of honor, and family members (if they so choose); they congratulate the couple on their marriage and also give insight into the couple’s lives together before the wedding. Dinnertime is next, which gives people more time to relax. Everyone dances and the party begins. During the party, the couple cuts the cake, which signals their union. They may even smash cake into each other’s faces in a playful way, just to be flirty …show more content…
The speaking model beings with S, which represents the physical and physiological place the communicative event is being held, which in this case is an American wedding.
The situation and scene of a wedding varies depending on many factors, such as religion, time of year, and just personal preference. Some people choose to have weddings indoors while others choose outdoors if the weather is permitting. Those who are more traditional will get married in a church, temple, or other place of worship. On the other hand, some couples may choose to get married in a courtyard, cottage, hotel, barn, on a beach, or at a park. It has become much more common and acceptable over time for weddings to occur in places other than