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Marriage Customs and Traditions

L

Lord Blaine

SOC-7
Inspired by a certain Supreme Court ruling, what unique marriage customs do certain planets have in your setting? It could be anything from a particular colour being associated with the ceremony, to a complex week-long ritual - in any case, it can be a great way to get the PCs into trouble.

For example, on one planet in my setting everyone at a wedding must be blindfolded until the lucky couple have said their vows and removed each other's blindfolds. On another planet, the traditional method of declaring an engagement is to tie feathers into your hair.
 
I've had the range of historically recognizable versions of marriage - along with different commitment levels of marriage and various recognizing authorities.

I've also had a minor human race of females that reproduce via parthenogenesis that acted as very, very high class concubines that would potentially recognize their contracted patron as the incarnation of Deity (subtly announced by either third person pronouns "the Lord" for mere humans, and "my Lord" for recognized incarnation). They had a minor psionic thing that help provide a bit of genetic mixing so as to keep things healthy.

There's one culture that recognized the gift of a knife as marriage vow, or at the very least a engagement ring. I can't remember which.

I seem to recall a "planet of only men" but I can remember if they were a minor human race or if they were simply high-tech selectors using uterine replicators.

Taking the idea that being "Aslan" is a cultural identity rather than a racial one I had one very minor clan where the females were willing to marry anyone of the right beliefs as long as there was economic benefit in it. So the clan and associated families where an interested mish-mosh of races.

Those are the ones that stand out.

D.
 
The only bit I've had come up as a plot-device regarding marriage IMTU has concerned arranged marriages for reasons of preserving royal bloodlines or financial 'merger' of large trade houses.

One particular adventure concerned transporting a 'cloistered' princess to to be wed to a prince in-line for his world's throne, complication was she wasn't really a woman.

Said faux-daughter of an Emir was in reality his son, hidden in veils and dresses to prevent assassins out to disrupt-destroy said family's future heirs.
 
From TD #15, page 28, about Glisten law profile:

Divorce suits have been taken out of court entirely by the requirement that divorce arrangements be pre-arranged and included in the marriage contract. Marriage contracts must be updated twice annualy to include changes in financial or property status.
Click to expand...
 
The classic wedding-in-space has to be 'Our Mrs Reynolds', easily my favourite Firefly episode.

Ghost marriages are interesting - a marriage in which one of the partners is deceased. In Germany during the last war girls who got pregnant but who's partner wa s soldier that died in the war could marry them posthumously, with the helmet standing in for the groom. How about a scenario in which you have to transport a helmet to a wedding?

Temporary Marriage - in which the marriage is legally valid for a limited period, often a year.

Simon Hibbs
 
McPerth said:
From TD #15, page 28, about Glisten law profile:
Click to expand...

Twice annualy? I hope they have long years in Glisten (I know it's an asteroid belt). In a setting where people routinely go on interstellar journeys lasting years at a time, and commonly move to planets with message round-trip times measured in months, that really doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Simon Hibbs
 
Handfasting
. One year and one day duration
. Pregnancy may bring additional contractual obligations
. Offspring certainly will
 
A bit far out there, but here goes:

A marriage on high-tech world where married couples temporarily trade mental personalities through cybernetics.

A marriage on a high-psionic world where the couple trades personalities or personality quirks ,"the ring", to walk in their mate's shoes.

A high-tech world that pre-tests couple compatibility through pseudo-presence AI computers 'marrying' first and proctor giving private results to applicants for a marriage license.

Your mileage may vary.

For Net-7 News, this is the Pakkrat.
 
A planet where all marriages happen on a certain day of the year, with mass ceremonies where all engaged couples in a given district are married in one combined event, which naturally leads to the mother of all wedding parties afterwards. Any couples that miss the day must wait till the next one in a years time.

A planet where it is traditional for the Groom to "steal" the bride, which has evolved into a elaborate hide and seek game played over several days before the wedding. the "Loosing" family (that hasn't got the bride when the wedding starts) has to pay for the wedding, so the completion is either fixed (so the family that can afford the wedding "looses") or quite fierce.

the "lesser" partner (socially) must prove him/herself "worthy" of their betrothed, by completing a set of tasks, that vary form "Bring me Something pink!" to "Cross the Worlds Edge Mountains on Foot!". These tasks are declared by the "senior" partners family, and is sometimes used to deter "unsuitable" suitors from gaining the hand in marriage of a child (or at least ensuring that your new in law is exceptionally talented....)
 
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