Wedding Resources

The first wedding ceremony?

I recently heard somebody say, "Jesus performed the first wedding ceremony." It didn't occur to me then, but the only thing I've ever read in the Bible about Jesus and a wedding was when He turned water into wine. I don't think He performed that ceremony, and from what I understand the custom of a "wedding" was already pretty established by that time. Is there something I don't know? Also, if Jesus didn't perform the first wedding ceremony, does any body know the origins of having a ceremony?

Public Comments

1. goes back to ancient goddess worship, when women wedded themselves to service of the goddess...
2. I'm pretty sure there were wedding or mating ceremonies long before anything was ever written down. Yes, Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding, and he was a youngster (I believe only 13) at the time. I'm also fairly certain that Abram and Sarai were married in some sort of ceremony. And I doubt that Jesus could have performed (possibly what your friend was thinking, though doubtful) the first "Christian" wedding, since he was Jewish, and Christianity had no existence at all until about 100 years after he died. I think your friend was mistaken.
3. If you haven't read the apocryphal book of Tobit, it's explained somewhat in there. Tobit has a written letter of marriage for his son and daughter-in-law, and it looks as if it were a custom that was in use for a while. A legal, binding agreement. Who knows for sure where the wedding ceremony started? http://www.chicagomarriage.com/wedding_traditions.htm (here's a random non-religious site regarding some traditions and their origins)