A wedding is the most magical day of two people’s lives. The matrimonial bonding of two people is one like no other, and guests are welcomed to come and celebrate the happy couple.
If you’re lucky enough to attend a wedding, you might be excited to see what the day entails.
We’ve all seen the movies – two people are getting married, but someone objects and confesses their undying love for one of them.
We cheer for the true soulmates and the jilted bride or groom is simply an afterthought to quickly be forgotten.
So, the movies are always over exaggerated – but it is true that people can object to the service. What would happen if this were to happen? We aim to find out in the article below.
Where Do Wedding Objections Come From?
Wedding objections first became a thing during medieval times, so they have been around long before the movies used them for dramatization.
It was first used in the 12th century by the Catholic Church to ensure that the union was legitimate before making it legal.
When the objections first came into use, people relied on word of mouth without the need for evidence. So, if you wanted to, you could ruin a wedding of two people by lying about them and the church would believe you!
Grounds for objection in the 12th century would include one of the couple already being married to another person, one or both of them having taken a vow of celibacy to the church, underage parties without parental consent, or being closely related through blood.
The church would require the marriage to be announced publicly before the wedding date so that people had enough time to share their objections and information surrounding it.
Then the informants would be invited to the wedding to announce their objection during the service.
The guests would be asked something similar to what we are asked today.
They would be asked if anyone knows why the couple should not be married, in which the informant would stand up and object to the wedding.
Nowadays, this tradition holds a little less importance. There are now laws in place which prevent people from getting married who are underage, of blood relation, or who are already married.
In fact, asking whether anyone objects to a marriage is much more commonly seen in films rather than real life.
Due to the need for a marriage license in modern partnerships, objections aren’t necessary. However, some registrars do still ask if anyone should object in a more informal tone.
You never know, the bride or groom might have a true soulmate who is sitting right next to you, ready to declare their love as soon as they’re given the chance!
What Would Happen If A Guest Were To Object?
Since the need for a marriage license has removed the need for objections within the legal sense, the only reason why someone would object at a wedding would be something similar to what we see in the movies.
So, if you’re at a wedding and a woman stands up and declares her love for the groom, shouting about how he’s in love with her too, what would happen? Would the wedding be stopped?
The answer is a little anticlimactic. Since wedding objections were created for the purpose of assessing the legal eligibility of the bride and groom, emotional objections hold little weight.
Not much would actually happen other than an awkward silence and a strange look on the bride’s face.
Whether the wedding continues or not is up to the bride’s discretion. However, the registrar would not be able to stop the wedding due to an emotional objectification.
If it was a legal objectification, they would stop the wedding until more evidence could be found to disprove this.
Instead, the registrar might ask their bride and groom if they’re happy to continue before brushing the objection off with a humorous remark.
If the wedding continues, it is assumed that the person who made the objection would leave. Otherwise, they would be awkwardly watching the wedding that they tried, and failed, to stop.
If the wedding were stopped, however, we’re sure that the room would be filled with awkwardness.
Perhaps the groom would run off with his true love while the bride runs in the opposite direction, ruining her makeup with tears. Have we seen too many movies?
What To Do If Someone Objects At A Wedding
If you love drama like us, your immediate response might be to scream, laugh, or jab your friends to make sure that they’re watching what you are.
But try to remember that you’re not in a movie, but you’re at a real wedding with people with real feelings.
If the objection is true, someone’s life is about to be turned upside down. So, try and remain respectfully quiet while the objection is being made, as well as during the aftermath.
The betrayed party might have a big decision to make and they won’t want you laughing or shouting your opinion at them.
On the other hand, if the objection isn’t true, the betrayed party might still have some things to think about at that moment.
Both the bride and groom are also likely to be angry that their moment has been ruined, so don’t add to this by talking or laughing.
Try not to draw any more attention to the situation. Instead, remain seated and enjoy the rest of the wedding (if it continues).
After the wedding, don’t bring it up to the bride or groom unless they initiate the conversation.
Summary
We hope that you’ve learned something interesting from our article and that you had a little fun with it.
Fingers crossed that you don’t actually see a real objection at a wedding, as we can imagine that it would be quite awkward and stressful for the bride and groom.
Objections used to be a good legal reason to cancel a wedding, but nowadays, they hold little weight. Emotional objections cannot stop a wedding unless the bride or groom allows it to.
