When someone thinks of marriage, they imagine a large, elaborate party with the bride wearing a white dress and the groom a classic tuxedo. However, worldwide this is not the norm for a wedding ceremony. Wedding is much more than just a celebration and a happy memory; it's a lifelong partnership with someone who holds the heart that hides. In today's society, weddings and marriage do not have the same meaning as they once did. In previous centuries, people considered marriage as a vow for life, whatever happened during the marriage, it was the spouse's duty to improve and fix it. In ancient times, kings and queens married their cousins, etc. to preserve the bloodline. An example of this is Cleopatra; she married her two brothers to preserve her family's bloodline. Other uses of marriage in the past were to strengthen a union between two countries, as in the story of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Different cultures view marriage as completely different ceremonies. In class we discussed many marriage ceremonies held in Africa and Egypt. Marriage has meaning all over the world. In Achebe's Things Fall Apart, we get an inside look at the marriage ceremony and tradition of Ibo culture. The character Obierika gives the reader a deeper look into what marriage looks like in Ibo culture. Ibo culture uses a dowry system and marriage is seen more as a business deal than an actual marriage. The male's family goes to the bride-to-be's house and the men proceed to set a price and begin negotiations. Once the price is agreed upon, the groom's family does not return until the day of the wedding. The novel states: Women and children began to gather in the Obierika compound to help the b...... middle of paper ......14. http://www.wou.edu/provost/library/exhibits/exhibits2004-05/color/Images/hinduism.pdf "The History of Wedding Traditions.": Bride & Groom: BrideandGroom.com. The Bride and Groom, 2006. Web. May 3, 2014. "Wedding Traditions: Meaning of 'Something Old, Something New...'?" Theknot.com, April 2009. Web. 2 May 2014. .Achebe, Chinua. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print. Bella Pictures “Indian Wedding Traditions.” Indian wedding traditions. Np, 4 June 2010. Web. 3 May 2014 Prakasa, Rao, The Family and Women in India: South Asia Books, 1982. Wilson, Carol "Wedding Cake: A Slice of History." Gastronomica 5.2 (2005): 69-72 . Press.