Marriage

Catholic teaching treats marriage between two baptized people as a sacrament, and weddings ordinarily happen in a Catholic church, sometimes within a nuptial Mass. Marrying a baptized non-Catholic requires diocesan permission; marrying an unbaptized person requires a dispensation called disparity of cult, granted by the bishop, and the Catholic partner promises to do all in their power to raise children in the faith. There is no rite of vow renewal as such, but anniversary blessings at Mass are common for milestones such as the 25th and 50th.

The Orthodox service joins two rites: betrothal, with rings, and the crowning, where crowns are placed on or held above the couple's heads. There are no spoken vows in the Western sense; the couple shares a common cup and processes around the table. Orthodox Christians may marry a baptized non-Orthodox Christian in an Orthodox ceremony, but not an unbaptized partner. Details of interchurch weddings vary by jurisdiction, so couples usually begin with the parish priest.

Most Protestant churches describe marriage as a covenant made before God rather than a sacrament, which is one reason the vows spoken by the couple carry so much ceremonial weight. Wording, music, and setting vary widely by denomination, from bodies with fixed liturgies to congregations where the couple drafts nearly everything with the pastor. Many clergy will adapt services for interchurch couples; policies on interfaith and same-sex weddings differ by denomination and sometimes by congregation.

A traditional Jewish wedding joins two ancient stages, kiddushin, or betrothal, and nisuin, in one ceremony under the chuppah. The ketubah, a marriage document, is read, and the sheva brachot, seven blessings over wine, form the heart of the rite; in traditional communities they are recited again at festive meals during the week that follows. Who may recite the blessings, and whether a rabbi will officiate for an interfaith couple, varies considerably by movement, so early conversations matter.

The nikah is a contract, not a sacrament: the couple consents before witnesses, terms may be negotiated, and the groom gives the bride a mahr that remains her own property. A wali, or guardian, traditionally represents the bride, with practice varying by school and community, and the walima, a wedding feast, follows. Classical law permits Muslim men to marry Jewish or Christian women under conditions but generally not the reverse, a rule interfaith couples meet early; communities read it with varying strictness.

Hindu tradition counts marriage, vivaha, among the samskaras, the rites of passage. In many communities the decisive act is the saptapadi: seven steps, or in some regions seven circuits, taken with the sacred fire as witness, after which the marriage is considered complete. Ceremonies vary enormously by region and family custom and often run across several days, so guests should expect the wedding itself to be one event among many, with distinct rites before and after.

Across most Buddhist societies the wedding is a social and civil matter rather than a religious rite; there is no set wedding liturgy and no sacrament of marriage. Many couples separately seek a blessing from monastics, who chant and wish the couple harmony and long life, and customs differ widely between Theravada, Mahayana, and Western communities. A temple blessing does not usually marry anyone legally; couples often register the marriage civilly and hold the blessing on another day.

The anand karaj, often rendered as blissful union, takes place before the Guru Granth Sahib, normally in a gurdwara. Its core is the lavan, four hymns composed by Guru Ram Das, sung as the couple walks around the scripture. The Sikh Rehat Maryada, the code of conduct, governs the rite, and directives from the Akal Takht have addressed both the venue and the expectation that both partners be Sikh, a question interfaith couples should raise with the gurdwara early.

Roughly a quarter of married Americans have a spouse of a different religion, per Pew Research Center's 2025 Religious Landscape Study, so this is the ordinary hard case rather than the exception. Options range from a single officiant using elements both families recognize, to co-officiants, to a civil ceremony followed by separate blessings. Every tradition draws its lines differently: Catholic dispensations, varied rabbinic policies, gurdwara expectations, classical Islamic rules. Ask each clergy person what is possible before setting a date.

Civil ceremonies before a registrar, judge, or clerk marry a large share of couples, and celebrant-led ceremonies add ritual shape without religious content. Humanist celebrants, for example, build a bespoke ceremony around the couple's own story and values, sometimes including readings, ring exchanges, or handfasting. Whether a celebrant-led ceremony is itself legally binding varies by jurisdiction, and some couples complete the paperwork separately. Vow renewals and anniversary celebrations sit comfortably here, since no doctrine restricts their timing or form.