Welcome to the Listening Time podcast. I’m Conner from polyglossa.com, and you’re listening to Episode 13 of the Listening Time podcast.

If this is your first time here, welcome! You’ve found a podcast that’s going to help you practice your listening skills. So, in each podcast, I talk about different topics, and I talk about them in a natural way without reading a script. I’m just talking as the words come to my mind. However, I speak a little bit more slowly and a little bit more clearly than the average American. So, it should be easier for you to understand me than it is to understand the average podcast made for English speakers.

The goal of this podcast is to help you reach a level of comprehension where you can actually listen to real podcasts made for English speakers. But I know it’s very difficult to reach that level of listening comprehension, and so, I’ve made this podcast as a tool to help you reach that level. So, with every episode, you also have the transcript available. So, you can access that in the Details part of the episode. And you can read the transcript as you’re listening if that is necessary for you. I always recommend listening to the same episode multiple times: maybe the first time without the transcript, and then the second time with the transcript, and then one more time without the transcript again. This is great practice. This repetition helps you remember the new words that you heard, and it helps train your ears.

So, in this episode, I’m going to talk about weddings. This is an interesting topic. It tells us a lot about different cultures, in my opinion. So we’re going to talk about that today. Before we start, please remember to share this podcast and tell your friends about it, and give it a like, a rating a review if you can so that other people can find it too. And if you want to practice your listening more, please join our one dollar Listening Practice Seminars at polyglossa.com so you can get more practice, more tips to help you listen better. Okay? Alright, let’s get started.

Okay, so let’s talk about weddings. First of all, let’s talk about the significance of weddings… the importance. In specific, I’m going to talk about American weddings. In America, weddings are extremely important. They have always been important and I think they will probably stay important and remain important in the future. So, what does a wedding represent? Well, it represents a legal union between two people. And it represents a contract, so to say, between two people who are promising that they’re going to love each other and support each other and stay together until death, right. We have the phrase in English, “’til death do us part”. This is a phrase that is said at weddings to mean that the two people, the bride and groom, will stay together… will stay married until they die. “‘Til death do us part” we say.

So, this is a very important, significant moment because it’s a really big decision in someone’s life. And it’s something that people dream about, even, when they’re young, especially little girls. They love to dream and imagine their, their wedding… their dream ceremony. They like to think about their wedding dress and all the different details of the party. This is something that’s very exciting for many people. And so the cost also reflects the importance because weddings are not cheap. In the US, people often spend many thousands of dollars on weddings. So, it’s very common for people to spend 15,000 dollars on a wedding, for example. That’s very common. And of course, this is a big investment. So usually, the parents of the bride and groom will help pay for it. And so that helps with the cost a little bit.

And as I mentioned, a wedding is a legally-binding contract, right, a marriage certificate is a legally-binding contract. That just means that it’s valid in the eyes of the law. Right, it’s not just a ceremony. It’s not just a party. It’s actually a legal contract. Right, so this is why weddings are conducted by an ordained minister or officiant. An ordained minister or officiant is someone who conducts a wedding and has the legal status to marry two people. If the bride and groom want a more religious ceremony, then they usually have an ordained minister, but sometimes the ceremony isn’t religious, and it’s just an officiant who has the legal ability to conduct a wedding. He’s the one who marries the two people in that moment.

So, let’s talk a little bit about the wedding ceremony in the US. First of all, it’s important for you to know that the wedding ceremony is very very important to Americans. I say this because in certain countries, the ceremony is not quite as important. And in those countries, the reception is usually more important. The word “reception” refers to the party that happens after the ceremony. So, this is where people eat and dance and spend many hours there with family and friends. That’s the reception. In the US, the ceremony and the reception are important. But for example, in Mexico, the ceremony is not really that important. Many people just skip the ceremony, and go to the reception. When I say the word “skip”, I’m saying that people do not do something or do not go to something. So if I skip class, that means I don’t go to class that day. So in Mexico, many people skip the ceremony, and they just go to the reception. In the US, barely anyone does this. When I say “barely” anyone, I’m saying almost no one. Right. Barely anyone does this… almost no one does this. And that’s because the ceremony is very important. People love to watch this ceremony to see all the details and see the bride walk down the aisle and see the whole procession. This is very important to Americans.

So, in an American wedding, we have something called the “wedding party”. The “wedding party” just refers to the people that play a role in the wedding. When I say “play a role”, I’m saying that the people have some responsibility in the wedding. So, for example, there are “bridesmaids”. These are the women that the bride chooses to stand next to her during the ceremony. Oh yeah, in case you don’t know the word “bride”, this refers to the woman who is getting married. And then we have the “groom”, who is the man. So the groom… he also chooses some people to be next to him during the ceremony. These men are called the “groomsmen”.

So we have bridesmaids and groomsmen, and then there is one special bridesmaid called the “maid of honor”. She is the most important bridesmaid. She has more responsibility, and she’s probably the best friend of the bride. And then the groom chooses his “best man”. The “best man” is the groomsmen who has the most responsibility, and he’s usually the best friend or closest family member of the groom.

And in addition to that, there are other people involved in the wedding party. For example, the “flower girl”. This is the little girl who walks down the aisle and throws flowers and flower petals on the ground. You’ve probably seen this. And then there could also be a “ring bearer”. So, this is the little boy who walks down the aisle with the rings in his hands. So many times, the bride and groom choose a flower girl or a ring bearer based on the young children that are in their family or their circle of friends. So, they might choose one or the other, or maybe they’ll choose both a flower girl and a ring bearer. So, there are many people involved in the wedding party. I just named some of them, but there are more.

And then some other important elements regarding the ceremony are… the “aisle”… I’ve been saying that word a lot already. The aisle just refers to the space between the seats where the people walk to the front of the wedding ceremony. This is the aisle. So that’s an important word for you to know. Everyone walks down the aisle to the front, if they’re involved in the wedding party. And then, of course, We have the vows. “Vows” referred to the promises that the bride and groom make to each other before the wedding… or before the ceremony is over. So many times, the bride and groom will read certain vows, certain promises. Like, “I promise to always love you and care for you no matter what happens”. That’s an example of a vow. It’s a promise. So sometimes the bride and groom write their own vows, and sometimes they use vows that people have already written and that are well established. So, they could write their own or they could use pre-written vows.

So, another element of the ceremony is that if it’s a religious ceremony… if the bride and groom belong to a certain religion, usually, there’s some kind of sermon said. A “sermon” is a message given by a pastor or some kind of preacher that is based on religion. So, if the bride and groom are Christians, then usually they’ll have the pastor marry them, and the pastor will also give a sermon, a short message about the wedding or marriage or love or something like that. That’s also an important part of the ceremony.

And then, of course, we have all the pictures, the wedding pictures. Usually, when people look back at their wedding pictures years later, the most important pictures are the pictures of the ceremony, the moment of the wedding, all the groomsmen, the bridesmaids, the family. And there are certain pictures that are taken apart from the ceremony. Usually the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the bride and groom… they take a number of different pictures before the ceremony starts. So they have to get there early, and the photographer positions them in many different ways and gets… and takes many different pictures, so that later, the bride and groom can have those memories. So, the pictures are a very important part of the wedding as well.

So, how about the reception? As I mentioned before, the “reception” is the party that follows the ceremony. So, one of the biggest elements of the reception is the dancing. So first, at the beginning of the reception, there are usually some planned dances. So, for example, some of the bridesmaids and groomsmen might dance. But one thing that is certain is that the bride and the groom… they have their first dance together. So, everyone watches the bride and the groom dance together for the first time as a married couple. And then it’s also common for the bride to have a dance with her father, and the groom will dance with his mother. That’s also a very common tradition at the reception of weddings. So of course there’s that dancing, but then there’s also the dancing that everyone’s involved in. So, all of the guests are invited to dance, but that usually happens after the meal, after all the other things at the reception. But of course, everyone looks forward to the dancing. It’s one of the funnest parts of a wedding… I think in any country, right. So, the dancing is a big element.

And another thing that’s important at weddings in the US is the speeches. So, for example, the maid of honor, the best man, usually the father of the bride or the groom, or other people like that… they usually give a speech at the reception. So they might tell some funny stories about the bride and the groom, or maybe they’ll just give some encouragement to the new couple or some advice. When I say the word “encouragement”, I’m referring to motivating or saying nice words to someone to make them feel inspired or make them feel comforted or something like that. We can use this as a verb. For example, “I encourage you to follow your dreams”, right. I’m saying that I support you… I’m giving you my support and giving you motivation to do this: “I encourage you”. So, the speeches are encouraging and funny. They can include anything, really.

And then of course, the food is another big element of weddings. And this is something that is catered, usually. So, when I use the word “catered”, I’m referring to what happens at weddings and other events like this, where an outside restaurant or food company prepares all the food for an event. So for example, if you have a wedding, and you want Italian food at your wedding, you can hire an Italian restaurant or food company to cater your wedding. That means that they’ll make all the food, and bring it, and serve it at your wedding reception.

So, food is usually catered by an outside company. And really, it can vary depending on the couple. Some couples prefer a certain style of food, so maybe they want Mexican food or Italian food or whatever. Nowadays, there’s no one specific wedding food. People can choose any food, really. But one thing is specific to weddings, and that is the wedding cake, right. This is a big tradition… a big tradition in American weddings. So, people spend a lot of time and energy and money finding the perfect cake for their wedding. So, this is an important element. I remember before my wedding, I had to go to multiple places to taste different cakes before we chose one. So, it’s very important.

So, that’s all part of the reception. And then after the wedding, after the ceremony and reception, of course you have the honeymoon afterwards. The “honeymoon” is the vacation that the new couple takes after their wedding. Usually they travel somewhere and relax for a week or something like that. And it’s a nice way to spend your first few days as a married couple. So, the honeymoon is definitely a very important element as well. But of course, it comes after the wedding.

So I guess we’ll stop there. There’s a lot more that I could talk about, because this is a very big topic, and there are many many traditions that take place, that are integral to the American wedding, but I just gave you a small taste of the American wedding in this episode. So hopefully, this was interesting for you. And hopefully, this was good practice for your ears. So, please remember to share this podcast, read it, give it a comment. And remember to sign up for our one dollar Listening Practice Seminars at polyglossa.com and thank you very much for listening to this episode, and I hope you’ll come back for Episode 14 of the Listening Time podcast.