bride
noun /braɪd/
/braɪd/
- a woman on her wedding day, or just before or just after it
- a toast to the bride and groom
- The bride wore an elegant gown of ivory satin.
- He introduced his new bride.
Wordfinder- best man
- bride
- ceremony
- engaged
- honeymoon
- marriage
- propose
- reception
- stag night
- wedding
Culture weddingsweddingsA wedding is the occasion when people get married. Marriage is the state of being married, though the word can also mean the wedding ceremony. In England, Wales and Scotland, and in all 50 states of the US, it is legal for couples of the same sex to marry.Before getting married a couple usually get engaged. In a male-female relationship, it is traditional for the man to propose (= ask his girlfriend to marry him) (sometimes called popping the question) and, if she accepts, give his new fiancée an engagement ring, which she wears on the third finger of her left hand. Today many couples decide together to get married.The couple then set a date and decide who will perform the marriage ceremony and where it will be held. In the US judges and religious leaders can perform weddings. The ceremony can take place anywhere and couples often choose somewhere that is special to them. Religious weddings are often held in a church or chapel, although many churches do not conduct same-sex weddings. In Britain many couples choose to be married in church, even if they are not religious. Others will have a civil ceremony conducted by a registrar at a registry office or at one of the many hotels and historic buildings which are licensed for weddings.In the past, it was traditional for the family of the bride (= the woman who is to be married) to pay for the wedding, but today the couple usually pay all or part of the cost. Many people choose a traditional wedding with a hundred or more guests. Before the wedding, the couple send out printed invitations and guests either buy a gift for them, contribute to the couple's honeymoon (= a holiday taken after the wedding) or make a donation to a charity chosen by the couple. Couples often make a list of items that they would like at a large store. Guests can look at the list online and buy a present. In Britain couples sometimes send a wedding list to guests to help them to choose a suitable present.Before a wedding can take place in a church it must be announced there on three occasions. This is called the reading of the banns. Some religious groups refuse to allow a couple to marry in church if either of them has been divorced, or if they are a same-sex couple, but they may agree to bless the marriage after a civil ceremony.Before the wedding the couple often go to separate parties given for them by friends. At the bridegroom's stag party, called in the US a bachelor party, guests drink alcohol and joke about how the groom is going to lose his freedom. For brides there is a hen party, called in the US a bachelorette party. Sometimes these parties take the form of a weekend trip to a foreign city.At a traditional wedding the groom's closest male friend acts as the best man and stands next to him during the ceremony. Other friends act as ushers and show guests where to sit. The bride's closest woman friend is chief bridesmaid (NAmE maid of honour), or matron of honour if she is married, and other friends are bridesmaids. Children are bridesmaids if they are girls or pages if they are boys.Many women choose to have a white wedding, and wear a long white wedding dress, sometimes with a veil (= a piece of thin material) covering the face. According to tradition, the bride's wedding clothes should include 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue', to bring luck. The bridesmaids wear matching dresses and, like the bride, carry bouquets of flowers. The bridegroom, the best man and other men may wear morning dress (= a long-tailed jacket, dark trousers and a top hat) or, in the US, a tuxedo (= a black suit with a white shirt). Women guests wear smart clothes and often hats.The bride arrives with her father who will give her away to her husband. The couple exchange vows (= promise to stay together and support each other). They also exchange wedding rings, placing them on the third finger of the left hand. They sign the register (= the official record of marriages) and as they leave the church guests throw rice or confetti (= small pieces of coloured paper) over them.The ‘happy couple’ and their guests then go to the wedding reception at a hotel or the place where the ceremony took place if it was not a church or registry office. There are often speeches by the best man, the bride's father and the bridegroom. The couple together cut a wedding cake, which usually has several tiers (= layers), and may be covered with white icing (NAmE frosting), perhaps with figures of the couple on the top one. Before the newly-weds leave for their honeymoon (= a holiday to celebrate their marriage) the bride throws her bouquet in the air: there is a belief that the woman who catches it will soon be married herself. It was a tradition for the car the couple left in to have been decorated by their friends with the words ‘just married’ and with old tin cans or shoes tied to the back, although this is less common now.In practice, many weddings do not follow the traditional procedures described above. Same-sex couples in particular may be more likely to break with traditions such as walking down the aisle, having a best man or arranging separate parties with their friends before the wedding.Extra ExamplesTopics Life stagesb1- The bride looked radiant in an ivory gown.
- The bride's father traditionally walks with her to the altar to give her away.
- You may now kiss the bride.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- beautiful
- lovely
- radiant
- …
- give away
- toast
- kiss
- …
- wear something
- look
- the bride and groom
Word OriginOld English brȳd, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch bruid and German Braut.