Weddings

Introduction

In the following text, we are going to read about the wedding customs in England. Do the
English have a civil or church ceremony, or maybe both? Who chooses the bride’s wedding
dress? What is a stag night? Let’s read the text and learn the facts.

Love is the most wonderful thing on earth! Two people meet each other and crown their
love with marriage. The final act of love! Let me introduce myself. I'm Ann and I'm going
to tell the story about my wedding.

My wedding was two months ago. The first decision to be made was whether we wanted
a church or civil ceremony. A civil wedding meant going to the local registry office, along
with two witnesses for the ceremony.

Slika 35.1.1

My friend Ellen said she had never seen such a lovely wedding before. Traditional wedding
customs on my wedding included the well-known English rhyme which went like this:
"Something Old, something New, something Borrowed and something Blue." One of my
first tasks as a bride was to choose my bridesmaids. Their job was to help me during my
wedding preparations. After my bridesmaids had helped me in choosing my wedding dress
I assisted them in choosing their outfits. Before Ellen bought the dress for my wedding
party she had read the book of "superstitions". White, blue, silver and gold are considered
the luckiest shades. Nothing black, green, brown, purple should be worn by the bride;

1
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leila-khalil/how-to-keep-your-guests-c_b_10467580.html

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 Married in white, You have chosen a right.
Married in blue, Your lover is true.
Married in pink, Your fortunes will sink.
Married in green, You will not long be seen.
Married in red, You'll wish you were dead.
Married in yellow, Ashamed of the fellow.
Married in brown, You'll live out of town.
Married in grey, You'll live far away.
Married in black, You'll wish you were back.

After we had decided on our guest list we sent invitations and booked the wedding cars,
organized the reception, sent for the photographer and bought flowers. When we chose
the church, the minister advised us on the form of service, choice of hymns and wedding
music.

Slika 35.2.2

I and my future husband Thomas decided on the song which we heard when we first met.

After the wedding ceremony I threw the bouquet and... who caught it?! Ellen, of course!

This is what the groom Thomas said about the same occasion. I remember when I had
first seen Ann. I had been very nervous that day. I had lost my job and had to return
some money to my friend. While I was walking in the rain I suddenly saw Ann with
beautiful blonde curls sliding along her neck and face, big blue eyes as a big blue sea…the
moment was perfect... I heard the wedding bells in my head.

I chose Charles to be my best man. Charles organized the "Stag night". Like most people,
we didn't know the origin of the customs for such a night but we knew some of the most
popular ideas for Stag night activities like "Go Kart Racing (indoor or outdoor), Paintball,
Overnight ferry trip". Charles chose the last one.

Before we went to the honeymoon we had opened our presents (now you probably know
what we did on our first wedding night as a newlywed couple). We spent our honeymoon
in Paris where we enjoyed the first days of our marriage. We had never felt better!

2
http://www.hydromajestic.com.au/weddings/wedding-cuisine

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Vocabulary

Nouns (imenice): Verbs (glagoli):

earth – zemlja crown – krunisati

marriage – brak introduce – predstaviti
act – čin show – pokazati
wedding – venčanje take along – povesti sa sobom
decision – odluka attend – prisustvovati
civil ceremony – građanska assist – pomagati
služba/ceremonija consider – smatrati
registry office – matični ured sink – potonuti
witness – svedok live out of town – živeti van grada
ceremony – ceremonija book – rezervisati
custom – običaj advise – posavetovati
rhyme – pesma u rimi, rima return – vratiti
bride – mlada, nevesta slide along – kliziti niz
task – zadatak throw – baciti
bridesmaid – deveruša
wedding dress – venčanica
outfit – odeća
superstition – sujeverje
shade – nijansa
fortune – sreća
groom – mladoženja
invitation – poziv, pozivnica
minister – sveštenik
service – služba
choice – izbor
curls – kovrdže
bell – zvono
best man – kum
Stag night – momačko veče
origin – poreklo
Paintball – igra koja predstavlja imitaciju
kratkih vatrenih okršaja na ograničenom
prostoru
honeymoon – medeni mesec
newlywed couple – tek venčani par
bouquet – buket
hymn – himna, crkvena pesma
fellow – momak, mladić
supper – večera
town hall – gradska skupština
certificate of merit – zahvalnica
puzzle – zagonetka

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Adjectives and adverbs Prepositions and conjunctions
(pridevi i prilozi): (predlozi i veznici):

final – konačan whether – da li, ako

local – lokalan
borrowed – pozajmljen
dead – mrtav
ashamed – posramljen, postiđen
suddenly – iznenada

Tabela 35.1.
Synonyms

Nouns (imenice): Verbs (glagoli):

earth – world, globe introduce – present

marriage – matrimony show – demonstrate
act – performance attend – be present
wedding – wedding ceremony, marriage assist – help
ceremony consider – think, believe
decision – determination, conclusion sink – go down
ceremony – ceremonial occasion book – reserve
custom – tradition, practice advise – recommend, suggest
rhyme – verse return – turn back, turn back
task – duty, chore throw – cast
bridesmaid – maid of honor
wedding dress – bridal gown, wedding gown
outfit – clothes
superstition – myth, story, belief, legend
shade – tint
fortune – luck
groom – bridegroom
invitation – invite
minister – priest
service – religious service, ceremony
choice – selection
curls – locks
stag night – bachelor party
origin – beginning, root
bouquet – bunch of flowers
fellow – chap
supper – dinner, evening meal

Adjectives and adverbs Prepositions and conjunctions

(pridevi i prilozi): (predlozi i veznici):

final – last whether – if

suddenly – all of a sudden

Tabela 35.2.

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Conclusion

• The wedding day is the happiest day of every bride and groom. Although weddings
include a number of customs, the most important thing of all is…love! There are many
examples of Past Perfect in the text.

Napomena za testove napredovanja:

Kako biste što bolje usvojili gradivo, uz ovu lekciju dostupni su testovi za vežbu koji se odnose
na razumevanje teksta i vokabulara iz ove nastavne jedinice.

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