STAGE

Weddings
1 Christine Lindop

Introduction

This ungraded summary is for the teacher’s use only

and should not be given to students.

Chapter summary
Chapter 1 (A long time ago) looks briefly at the
history of weddings. It explains that weddings that
took place hundreds or even thousands of years ago
had many features that we would recognize today,
such as engagements, the exchange of presents, and
parties following the wedding ceremony. Chapter 8 (Destination weddings) is about the
Chapter 2 (Before the wedding) describes some trend – particularly in the UK and USA – for couples to
of the customs relating to engagement. There are have their weddings far from home. It names some
many different types of engagement ring, both for celebrities who have done this, including the Beckhams
brides and grooms. Other types of presents are also who got married in a castle in Ireland. It mentions the
exchanged, and often brides and grooms have separate popularity of Las Vegas, where Elvis-themed weddings
parties with their friends before the wedding. are popular.
Chapter 3 (Clothes and people) explains that Chapter 9 (Wonderful weddings) covers some of
white wedding dresses for brides became popular the more unusual choices that couples make for their
following Queen Victoria’s wedding in 1840. However, weddings. These include underwater weddings,
red is popular in China and India, and black is a weddings in the mountains, weddings on trains, and
traditional colour in Spain. This chapter also gives even skydiving weddings. This chapter also looks at a
details of the bridesmaids and groomsmen who help couple who decided to have an inexpensive wedding:
the couple throughout the wedding. they had many of the usual traditions such as flowers,
Chapter 4 (Traditional ceremonies) talks about rings, special clothes and special food, but arranged it
the wedding ceremony itself. While ceremonies are all themselves with the help of their friends and
different all over the world, there are common themes. families.
For example, the couple often drink from a special cup, Chapter 10 (After the wedding) finishes by
and there is often a symbolic linking of the couple, outlining some of the traditions that mark the start of
with thread or rings. There are various traditions for the married couple’s new life together. Often these
witnessing and recording the marriage, too. relate to having children, or to breaking away from
Chapter 5 (The reception) is about the party that their old life with their parents.
follows the wedding ceremony. This normally involves
special food, particularly cakes or bread. There are
typically speeches too, and usually plenty of music
and dancing.
Chapter 6 (Money) describes the role of money in
weddings in different cultures. In some countries, the
groom gives money to the bride’s family when they
are engaged; in others, there are many different
traditions for giving money to the bride, or to the
couple, during or after the wedding ceremony.
Chapter 7 (Two weddings) gives details of two
weddings in two different countries. The first was a
traditional church wedding in London in the summer.
The second was in Japan in the spring: although the
groom was British, he wore a traditional black kimono.

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 STAGE
Weddings
1 Pre-reading activity

Is it true?

1 Read these sentences about weddings. Do you think they are true (T) or false (F)?
T or F?
a In Europe and the USA, most women wear white at their wedding.
b There were weddings thousands of years ago.
c Black is a lucky colour for brides in China.
d Some people have their wedding under water.
e People don’t usually bring money to weddings.
f After the wedding, the bride often has a party with her women friends.

2 Match the chapter titles with the sentences.

1 A long time ago a In Bulgaria and Russia, the couple drink three times from the same
glass.
2 Before the wedding b In many countries, someone puts a baby on the new couple’s bed.

3 Clothes and people c On a sunny day, a wedding in the snow can be beautiful.

4 Traditional ceremonies d When the woman – or the man – says yes, the couple are engaged.

5 The reception e About one couple in six from the UK goes to a different country for
their wedding.
6 Money f The bride needed to be twelve years old or more and a groom thirteen
or more before they could get married.
7 Two weddings g A traditional wedding in the UK costs between £15,000 and £25,000.

8 Destination weddings h After the ceremony, people love a good party.

9 Wonderful weddings i In Hawaii the groom wears a long white shirt and trousers.

10 After the wedding j Eri is Japanese, and her husband Karl is British.

To the teacher
Aim: To encourage students to think about weddings, true or not. Next, ask the students to match the chapter
and to introduce some key vocabulary and information. titles in activity 2 with the sentences. Then discuss the
Time: 10–15 minutes students’ answers. Avoid telling them the correct
Organization: Give a copy of the worksheet to each answers as these will become clear during reading.
student or group of students. Ask students to look at the Key: 1: a T, b T, c F, d T, e F, f F. 2: 1 f, 2 d, 3 i, 4 a, 5 h, 6
statements in activity 1 and decide whether they are g, 7 j, 8 e, 9 c, 10 b.

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 STAGE
Weddings
1 While reading activity

Spot the mistakes

There are ten mistakes in the text. Find them and correct them. The first one is corrected for you.

fathers
Long ago in Rome, the mothers of the bride and groom arranged the wedding between them. The
bride needed to be sixteen years old or more before she could get married. On the day of the wedding,
the bride had flowers in her hair. A pronuba – a married woman friend – stood behind her at the
ceremony.

In 1840, the British Queen Elizabeth married Prince Albert. She wore a white dress, and soon white
dresses became very popular with brides. But other colours are popular in different countries. For
example, a traditional Spanish bride wears an expensive blue wedding dress. Men often wear dark
colours.

There are different traditions around the world. In Russia, the couple drink twice from the same glass.
In Cambodia, every guest ties a thread around the couple’s feet. At a Jewish wedding, the groom
breaks a plate with his foot; this brings good luck.

Special food is usually an important part of the reception after the wedding ceremony. A western
wedding cake is usually red, with flowers and a little bride and groom on it. There is music and
dancing, too. Before the bride leaves the reception, she often throws her money to the other young
women at the party.

To the teacher
Where: At the end of Chapter 5 (The reception). answers with the class, and see how many other related
Aim: To revise and consolidate some of the key facts details students can remember.
and vocabulary so far. Key: mothers – fathers; sixteen – twelve; behind –
Time: 15–20 minutes next to; Elizabeth – Victoria; blue – black; twice – three
Organization: Give each student, or pair of students, a times; feet – hands; plate – glass; red – white; money
copy of the summary, and ask them to find and correct – flowers (or bouquet).
the mistakes. There are ten in total. Go through the

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 STAGE
Weddings
1 After reading activity

Hidden word

Read the clues and fill in the word grid. Find the hidden word.
CLUES
1 A tradition in Hungary and Portugal is to leave money in the bride’s ___.
2 In France, the couple have ___ from a very beautiful cup at the wedding.
3 When a man and a woman decide to marry, the man often gives the woman a ___.
4 At a traditional western wedding, the bride walks slowly into the church with her ___.
5 The ___ doesn’t usually see the bride on the morning of the wedding because it is bad luck.
6 In China, the bride’s friends are given money in ___ envelopes.
7 At a ___ wedding the groom must pay some money, called mahr, to the bride.
8 When Subrata Roy’s sons got married, he invited more than 10,000 ___ to the wedding.
9 The Royal Scotsman is a famous ___ that can be used for weddings.
10 The ___ man stays with the groom and carries the ring.

1
S H O E
2

10

To the teacher
Aim: To revise some of the vocabulary and facts about will then find the hidden word. When checking the
weddings described in the book. answers with the class, ask students to give as much
Time: 15–20 minutes related detail as they can about each answer.
Organization: Give each student, or pair of students, a Key: 1 shoe, 2 wine, 3 ring, 4 father, 5 groom, 6 red,
copy of the worksheet. Look at the first example with 7 Muslim, 8 guests, 9 train, 10 best. The hidden word is
the class and explain that students must complete the ENGAGEMENT.
grid with the words missing from the sentences. They

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