A wedding is a ceremony where two or more people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary between cultures, ethnic groups, religions and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple, presentation of a gift, a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are worn, the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs originating in Ancient Rome; some cultures have adopted the traditional Western custom of the white wedding, in which a bride wears a white wedding dress and veil. This tradition was popularized through the marriage of Queen Victoria; some say Victoria's choice of a white gown may have been a sign of extravagance, but may have been influenced by the values she held which emphasized sexual purity. Within the modern'white wedding' tradition, a white dress and veil are unusual choices for a woman's second or subsequent wedding.

The use of a wedding ring has long been part of religious weddings in Europe and America, but the origin of the tradition is unclear. One possibility is the Roman belief in the Vena amoris, believed to be a blood vessel that ran from the fourth finger directly to the heart. Thus, when a couple wore rings on this finger, their hearts were connected. Historian Vicki Howard points out that the belief in the "ancient" quality of the practice is most a modern invention. "Double ring" ceremonies are a modern practice, a groom's wedding band not appearing in the United States until the early 20th century. The exit from the wedding ceremony is called the "send off", includes traditional practices, such as the newlyweds and the wedding party bowing and kissing the knees of the elders in Ethiopian weddings; the send off includes throwing rice or other seeds at the newlyweds in most of the Western world, as well as for example India and Malaysia. Despite fears of the opposite, the use of uncooked rice for this purpose is not harmful to birds.

The wedding ceremony is followed by wedding reception or a wedding breakfast, in which the rituals may include speeches from the groom, best man, father of the bride and the bride, the newlyweds' first dance as a couple, the cutting of an elegant wedding cake. In recent years traditions has changed to include a father-daughter dance for the bride and her father, sometimes a mother-son dance for the groom and his mother. Ao dai, traditional garments of Vietnam Barong Tagalog, an embroidered, formal men's garment of the Philippines Batik and Kebaya, a garment worn by the Javanese people of Indonesia and by the Malay people of Malaysia Dashiki, the traditional West African wedding attire Dhoti, male garment in South India Hanbok, the traditional garment of Korea Kilt, male garment particular to Scottish culture Kittel, a white robe worn by the groom at an Orthodox Jewish wedding; the kittel is worn only under the chuppah, is removed before the reception. Kua, Chinese traditional formal wear Ribbon shirt worn by American Indian men on auspicious occasions, such as weddings, another common custom is to wrap bride and groom in a blanket Sari/Lehenga, Indian popular and traditional dress in India Seshweshe, female dress worn by the Basotho women during special ceremonies.

Although it has been adopted to men attire as well. Sherwani, a long coat-like garment worn in South Asia Shiromuku Kimono, a traditional wedding garment in Japan Tiara, or wedding crown, worn by Syrian and Greek couples and Scandinavian brides Topor, a type of conical headgear traditionally worn by grooms as part of the Bengali Hindu wedding ceremony Western dress code Morning dress, western daytime formal dress Stroller White tie Black tie or Evening Suit Non-traditional "tuxedo" variants Lounge suit Wedding veil, popularized by Queen Victoria, was a long held custom in which the'purity' and'innocence' of the bride could thwart away evil spirits. Wedding dress, a special dress worn by the bride. Different wedding clothing around the world Music played at Western weddings includes a processional song for walking down the aisle either before or after the marriage service. An example of such use is reported in the wedding of Nora Robinson and Alexander Kirkman Finlay in 1878; the "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner known as "Here Comes the Bride", is used as the processional.

Wagner is said to have been anti-Semitic, as a result, the Bridal Chorus is not used at Jewish weddings. UK law forbids music with any religious connotations to be used in a civil ceremony. Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D is an alternative processional. Other alternatives include various contemporary melodies, such as Bob Marley's One Love, sometimes performed by a steel drum band. In the United States 2 million people get married each year and close to 70 million people attend a wedding and spend more than $100 on a gift. Most religions recognize a lifelong union with established rituals; some religions permit polygamous marriages or same-sex mar

At present there are no recognised flags for individual states in India. No legal prohibitions to prevent states adopting distinctive flags exist in either the Emblems and Names Act, 1950 or the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 and the Flag code of India permits other flags to be flown with the Flag of India, but not on the same flag pole of in a superior position to the national flag; the State of Jammu and Kashmir had an recognised state flag between 1952 and 2019 under the special status granted to the state by Article 370 of the Constitution of India. Flags have been proposed for the states of Tamil Nadu in 1970 and Karnataka in 2018; when a distinctive banner is required to represent a state or union territory, the emblem of the state or union territory can be displayed on a white field. At the National Games of India, each state or union territory is represented by a flag depicting the logo of its Olympic association. National flag of India List of Indian flags List of Indian state emblems List of Indian state symbols List of Indian state songs List of Indian state animals List of Indian state birds List of Indian state flowers List of Indian state trees

The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in India haved many churches of architectural value which were built under British colonial rule, during the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. Although much smaller in size compared to Hyderabad, Secunderabad has far more churches than its twin, as a result of its being a British Cantonment under direct British rule, from its founding in 1806 to 1947. Most of the prominent churches in the twin cities are concentrated in and around the historic Clock Tower and Abids areas. New and local churches are being established around the Twin cities. Under the discipline of Church history these Churches are classified as, Roman Catholic Churches, Orthodox Churches, Protestant Churches and Indigenous Churches