A wedding in Dementlieu?

[Scipion_Emilien]

For my game, there will be a wedding scene in hign Demntlieuse nobility, and since relgion as lose it s power into this social group, i was wondering if they do a civil wedding with a state officiel wor there is still a cleric for "tradition".

[Dhampire]

Much like modern media, I would think they would have an actual ceremony. Something to publicize the event and to show support and faith of the Church of Ezra (which has a Dementlieu Specific Sect).

[Jakob]

In Dementlieu, attending church functions is a social occasion. Moreso in case of a wedding.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I might suspect weddings would be a big church function, even for the non-devout. The big pomp and ceremony of a church wedding might legitimize weddings amongst important movers and shakers. Purely civil weddings might just for commoners, or for illegitamate unions.

[DocBeard]

"A brainwashing with every marraige!"

It'll be like Vegas without the divorce rate.

[NeoTiamat]

Even amongst people who are generally not very religious, church ceremonies would still be important social occasions to commemorate births (christenings), weddings, and funerals.

I think only really die-hard atheists like Ramsey would opt for civil ceremonies if they could afford religious ones.

[Nathan of the FoS]

It's entirely possible that they don't have any non-religious way of marrying people (except for common-law marriage, I suppose).

[WolfKook]

"A brainwashing with every marraige!"

It'll be like Vegas without the divorce rate.

And without Elvis... It takes the fun out of it.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

This being Ravenloft, I envision some very interesting things could happen during a wedding, provided it follow similar rules to weddings in our world. At the point where the priest says "If anyone should object to this wedding, let them speak now or forever hold their peace", it could constitute an invitation to anyone with a gripe to step up, step in and voice their grievances. Imagine the church doors suddenly being thrown open and a Ravenloft revenant walks in, telling the world that the groom murdered him so as to have unlimited access to the bride, who the revenant was courting once? Or a fiend could manifest, angry because the bride has already promised her heart and soul to him in return for vast wealth, and is now trying to use the power of Ezra to weasel out of the deal.
Fun, fun, fun ...

[DocBeard]

And without Elvis... It takes the fun out of it

Aw, come on, the Living Brain's /like/ Elvis.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

And without Elvis... It takes the fun out of it

Aw, come on, the Living Brain's /like/ Elvis.

But without the jolly belly, obviously.

[Garudos Celestar]

This being Ravenloft, I envision some very interesting things could happen during a wedding, provided it follow similar rules to weddings in our world. At the point where the priest says "If anyone should object to this wedding, let them speak now or forever hold their peace", it could constitute an invitation to anyone with a gripe to step up, step in and voice their grievances.

For more inspiration, check The Evil Eye - there's a (brief) scene where the PCs witness the results of Gabby Aderre's manipulations as they come to fruition on wedding night...

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Even amongst people who are generally not very religious, church ceremonies would still be important social occasions to commemorate births (christenings), weddings, and funerals.

Not to mention an excuse to show off one's wardrobe and so make other aristocrats green with envy. This is Dementlieu we're talking about, after all.

[Scipion_Emilien]

This being Ravenloft, I envision some very interesting things could happen during a wedding, provided it follow similar rules to weddings in our world. At the point where the priest says "If anyone should object to this wedding, let them speak now or forever hold their peace", it could constitute an invitation to anyone with a gripe to step up, step in and voice their grievances.

Im thinking about a lot of scenario right now, thank for giving me some ideas.

The two people who are wedding are a Lamordian savant with an aristocratic Dementlieuse daughter. Both of them are players character who don't want the wedding since it is a political union that their parents have seal off. Their only reason to do it is to not bring shame on the family name.

Then there is the strange cousin of the bride that come from Mordent, who call himself a hunter of supernatural thing. Another cousin who is back from Rokushima Taiyoo with a lot of new knowledge and of course exotic goods that sell for a lot of cash on the market. A weird gardeness who seem to exhib strange talent at his job. And finally an assasination attemps the night before the wedding that foil strangely, all would-be assasins were kill by strange claws without the intervention of anyone in the house.

So if you have more idea how I could unravel the plot and make the wedding scene, I m open to all. At first, I thought to do the ceremonie in the garden of the noble house, but now that I think about it, an Ezrean Cathedral is the best location for a noble Dementlieu family to show off. As for the ceremony, I think I will copy more or less a classical catholic ceremony.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

If this is a politically enforced marriage, you can have even more fun ...
Say either the bride or the groom had a lover before this marriage was pushed on them. It could be an extremely intrepid soul who causes a diversion (smoke bomb, sudden outbreak of roaches, whatever) and abducts their beloved, leaving enough red herrings to make it look as if a monstrous entity stepped in. Adventurers hired to find the missing bride or groom might be led way off base.
If it's a political alliance, there will always be people who object to it going through, because it will affect their own powerbase or because one or both of these noble families have done them wrong. These shadow opponents (anyone from the Lamordian secret society to l'Ordure to the fraternity of shadows itself) could hire assassins or rumormongers or send saboteurs. The former could try and take out one of the prospective newlyweds, a rumormonger could tarnish their reputations from the shadows, stir up conflict between the families and generally sabotage the proceedings. L'Ordure could just soil the cathedral the day before the wedding, arrange for the wedding dress to be torn to shreds, paint graffiti on the church doors, et cetera. Of course, if all else fails, these shadow opponents can arrange for a kidnapping or direct assault by a conjured or created monster.
We're dealing with noble families here, so who wants to bet there are some skeletons in the closet? Sometimes literally ... The groom has relatives in Lamordia? What if they went hunting one day and came across a monk from the monastery of the Quickening Lightning Bolt (I forget its proper name, sorry ...) and they drove him off a cliff for sport. (The patriarch might be a member of the Enlightened Citizens, getting rid of an unwanted esoteric.) This being a flesh golem, it's needed some time to put itself back together, but it's been steadily plodding after its attackers since. It starts a campaign of terror, then crashes the wedding. The Dementlieuse family would almost certainly have been exploiting the poor. What if many of their tenants have died from exposure, hunger and being overworked? Hello, army of the vengeful dead! Nothing says 'guilty' like skeletons marching down the aisle after the blushing bride ...
More ideas when I come up with them.