Matchmaking is the process of matching two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, in which case the matchmaker is also known as a marriage broker. The word is also used in the context of sporting events such as boxing, in business, in online video games and in pairing organ donors.
Gerard van Honthorst, The Match-Maker (1625)
Traditional matchmaking is a usual folk program in Russian museums.
Matchmakers sitting on either side of the bride and groom in this Japanese wedding photo
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. It is nearly a cultural universal, but the definition of marriage varies between cultures and religions, and over time. Typically, it is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged or sanctioned. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing sexual activity. A marriage ceremony is called a wedding, while a private marriage is sometimes called an elopement.
Indian Hindu wedding with the bride and groom in traditional dress.
Chinese immigrant with his three wives and fourteen children, Cairns, 1904
A same-sex couple exchanging wedding vows in a Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
In an 1828 "Wife Wanted" advertisement, an Englishman claiming a "great taste for building" pledges to apply a prospective wife's dowry-like £1000+ to build property that will be "settled on her for life".