Episode 166a What To Expect At A British Wedding Ceremony And Wedding Vocabulary

A few weeks ago I went to my cousin's wedding. It was held at a wedding venue in the woods. This week we'll spend two episodes talking about British weddings. Today I'm going to be focusing on before and during the wedding ceremony and tomorrow we'll talk about what you can expect at the wedding reception after the ceremony. I'll also talk a little more about some other vocabulary you might hear and some differences between British and American weddings. I mention in the episode that there are some famous British movies that feature weddings. Richard Curtis is one of Britain's most famous screenwriters and producers of movies. He tends to write romantic comedies and most of his movies include at least one wedding. His most famous films include Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral and About Time. Vocabulary Ritual - something that is repeated regularly and follows a pattern, usually related to religion or superstition. marshmallow style wedding dress - this kind of wedding dress, famously described this way in Four Weddings and a Funeral, is very big and usually has big sleeves, a wide skirt and often a long train or veil formal - you should wear smart clothes such as a suit, high heels for women and sometimes a hat informal - this tells us you don't need to wear a suit, or perhaps you can just wear an open shirt. Women might not wear dresses or high heels. smart casual - as it sounds, this dress code is a blend of the two. Men often still wear suits, but perhaps without the tie. Women are unlikely to wear hats and everyone is possibly in more relaxed clothing. fascinator - this is something women can wear on their head. It is much smaller than a hat and often has feathers or some sort of sculpture. flat shoes - used to describe women's shoes that do not have a high heel flip flops - used to describe shoes with a single piece of material, plastic or leather that goes between the toes, often worn on beaches. stinking everybody out - figure of speech - just means I didn't want to be smelly we took that as literal - meaning you follow instructions exactly wedding party - the group of people that make up the core guests, this usually includes the parents and siblings of the bride and groom and the maid of honour and best man, as well as the bride and groom. carriages at midnight - figure of speech- when you see this phrase or a phrase starting with 'carriages at...' then you know that there is an end time for the party. 'Carriages at midnight' means everyone will go home at midnight. Some families put this on the wedding invitation to prevent an all night party. figure of speech - a phrase that is commonly used but doesn't have an obvious meaning we can work out from the phrase alone. reception - a wedding reception is the party that happens after a wedding take offense - to feel offended by something, you might hear 'don't take offence' when someone is trying to prevent someone from feeling hurt by something. registry office - the government office in the UK responsible for registering births, deaths and marriages stained glass - in many European churches it is common to see colourful glass pictures in church windows pew - the hard wooden seats you find in churches marquee - a very large tent where events can be held priest - the religious person in a church, one option for officiating a wedding vow - the words the bride and groom say to each other during the wedding officiate - the process of running a wedding: talking to the congregation (guests in a church), telling the bride and groom what to say and announcing when they are married #emmaseslenglish #english #englishvocabulary #britishculture #wedding #weddingday