It is believed that the earliest weddings were group events, designed to join together different tribes into a larger family to support and protect each other. The practice of paying a dowry to the family of the bride or the groom, which could include land as well as other types of property, has served throughout the history of marriage to ensure property rights among kinship groups. Please continue reading to find out more. Non-Denominational Traditional Wedding Vows The words that many of us are familiar with that start off a traditional wedding ceremony, being, “"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy matrimony” can be found in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. They oftentimes would live together. Any children of their union were considered illegitimate, since their own relationship was not legitimate. Some women became concubines of married men because their families were not able to afford to provide a dowry for them. This was considered an embarrassment. What makes getting married in Las Vegas so popular? Why do so many couples choose to make it the place for their big day (or night as the case may be in Vegas)? There are two very different opinions on Las Vegas as a wedding venue. Some people feel that a Las Vegas marriage is something that should avoided like all-in-one tight white suits. If you met the state requirements prior to that date and have been involved in the same relationship continuously, your relationship is still recognized as a common law marriage. The same is true in Idaho, though they stopped the practice of granting common law marital status on January 1, 1996. Ohio also discontinued their common law marriage laws on October 10, 1991. Then think about some of the material things, are they put away or gone? The material things seemingly just disappear while moments of happiness linger with us forever. How to find happiness in a marriage is by your attitude. True happiness is an attitude of noticing the good constantly coming our way.