Wedding rituals are different in various cultures. There is a lot of preparation before, during and after the wedding ceremony. Although wedding rituals have similarities with each other, they also contrast with each other. Hispanic Catholic weddings have their own ritual ways and Muslims (Islam) also have their own way of celebrating the ritual. Various things happen on the day of a Hispanic Catholic wedding. The ceremony must take place in a Catholic church since the church is the house of God and he must be present at the ceremony. The time of the wedding ceremony must be agreed with the priest and the last wedding ceremony takes place two hours before the start of the mass and usually lasts about an hour and a half. The wedding can take place in any season in which the person wishes to get married and on any available date. The wedding is celebrated only once, unless the couple wishes to renew their promise of marriage later. There may be conflicts in getting people to attend the wedding ceremony as guests work during the ceremony period even if various guests ask for the day off in advance. Preparation for marriage usually begins from the moment a woman gets engaged and sends out engagement announcements. Wedding preparation usually lasts from a couple of months to a year and is done at a fast pace. In order for a person to get married in a Catholic church, they must receive baptism, confirmation, and Holy Communion for the marriage to be a sacramental marriage. Hispanic Catholic weddings have specific items needed during the ceremony: a lasso (cord), tapestries (coins), two flower boutiques, wedding rings, and wedding vows. The reason these are necessary is that during a specific period… middle of the paper… marriage has similarities and differences. Even though they are celebrated by different cultures, ultimately this means that two people end up getting married. The ceremonies might be different but they are similar to each other in the way they both end with a newly married couple. Learning this opens my eyes to how people celebrate their weddings and how beautiful it must be to see how each culture celebrates a wedding. Works Cited Layth, Abul. “What is the ruling on marriage Walimah (banquet) and the response to it in the Shafi'i school?” Shafii Fiqh. Shafii, 9 November 2009. Web. 199 April 2014. Maqsood, Ruqaiyyah Waris. “Weddings”. BBC. BBC, 8 September 2009. Web. 17 April 2014. "Pre-Wedding Muslim Marriage Ritual." Muslim weddings. The Knot, ND Web. April 18, 2014. "Order of a Catholic Wedding Mass." Help for Catholic weddings. Our Sunday visitor, January 2012. Web. 17 April. 2014.