It is wedding season! Spring and summer months are the most popular for marriages, and we think it is the perfect time for some ESL wedding vocabulary. Do you know the following words?
bride: the woman getting married
groom: the man getting married
bridesmaids: the women who stand with the bride (close friends and family)
groomsmen: the men who stand with the groom (close friends and family)
maid of honor: the bride’s best friend
best man: the groom’s best friend
officiant: the person who performs the marriage (sometimes a priest or church official)
ceremony: the formal part of the wedding when the couple becomes married
reception: the informal part of the wedding when the guests eat and dance
vows: the words that the bride and groom say during the ceremony
Some helpful grammar points when talking about weddings in English:
- “Marry” is a verb. The simple past and past participle are “married”. If you are married, then you say “I am married”.
- “Marriage” is a noun. It is used to talk about the idea of being married. If you are happy being married, then you say that you have a “good marriage”.
- “Wedding” is a noun. The wedding is the day when the bride and groom become married.
Here are some examples of how to use these words properly:
“I am married. In fact, I am happily married! I have been married for two years. My wife and I got married in a beautiful church in Italy. The wedding was incredible: she looked stunning, and I was so happy to marry her in front of our  friends and family! In the last three years we have had a lot of fun together. I think we definitely have a happy, healthy marriage.”
Some useful idioms…
- “tie the knot”: to get married
- “cold feet”: to become nervous before the wedding and want to cancel the ceremony.