Protestant and Anglican wedding traditions

Protestant and Anglican weddings are a wide family. Most do not count marriage as a sacrament but as a holy estate, and the services are usually in the local language, built around vows, readings and a blessing. Many Western wedding customs, such as the white dress and the aisle, are shaped by this tradition.

Anglican and Lutheran forms

The Church of England wedding follows the Book of Common Prayer or Common Worship. It includes the declaration, the vows and the giving of the ring with the words, with this ring I thee wed. In Lutheran churches in Germany and Scandinavia the service includes a blessing and an address, and in Sweden the couple may enter together. Banns are read in Church of England parishes on three Sundays before.

Free and Reformed churches

Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Pentecostal weddings vary, from formal to joyful. In the African American church the jumping of the broom is often added as a heritage custom with roots in slavery. African churches may include long worship, offerings and cultural rites such as lobola alongside the service. Quakers, Mennonites and the Amish have their own forms, from silence to plain dress.

Change

Many Protestant churches bless civil unions and some marry same-sex couples, including the Church of Sweden, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Canada, while others do not. This is a live debate within the family of churches, and the pages say so.