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Photo of Anne Worthington standing at the bottom of a staircase and wearing a wedding gown.

Diana receives a hand blessing from the abbot, who married them. He is Buryiat Mongolian and has obtained a license to conduct the nuptial rites in the state of New Jersey., Katrina Thomas's notes: A Jew and a Protestant, both practicing Buddhists for 13 years, marry as a promise to a lama, whom they call "Bakshi, the Kalymk Mongolian word for first teacher, who changed the course of their lives. They are administrators and caretakers of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, a non-profit religious organization, which their guru founded after setting up the first Tibetan monastery in America.

Leslie, married on a day of drowning rain, wears sneakers on her feet and carries her shoes while a flower girl carries her veil. There is a popular saying that to be married in rain forecasts a life together in sunshine., Katrina Thomas's notes: Whether newly arrived in the U.S. or American citizens, resident for generations, the greatest number of marriages adheres to the Anglo-American model, promoted by a powerful wedding industry. Wedding coordinators and bride guides are consulted. With nothing left to chance, planning often takes months. The wedding can be officiated by anyone licensed to marry -- a member of the clergy, an interfaith minister, a civil marriage celebrant. The bride usually wears the most extravagant white dress she or her father can afford. Wedding party attire is color coordinated with the floral decorations -- bridesmaids in matching dresses, groomsmen in ties of the same color, even the two mothers often agreeing to something similar. The marriage may demand a fairy tale wedding, which seeks to be memorable and unusual in a climate of sameness, often incurring considerable wedding debt. In contrast, the procedure of an upper class Anglo-American wedding, held most often at the bride's home, recognizes family traditions. Most of my pictures depict the varied customs kept by this group, the sons and daughters of my WASP or Jewish friends and other couples to whom I have been recommended.

An unidentified couple, who are African Americans seeking the wedding traditions and styles of their roots, are married in a Ghanaian Akan rite., Katrina Thomas's notes: Nana Dinizulu, a native of Georgia named Gus Edwards, introduced the Akan tribal ceremony to the U.S. In the 1960s, believing this to be his heritage, he went to Ghana to be ordained a priest. He provided the following information: The bride and groom march in with family members. The bride's mother or the eldest woman, representing the family, is asked if she received a sufficient bride price for losing her daughter. Today it is money; in the past it was money, cloth or a sacrificial animal. While family and guests kneel behind the couple, Nana, by pouring gin on the ground, invokes the gods as witnesses. Then he passes to the man, and to the woman, a glass of pure water first, followed by honey in water, and finally watered gin. The nuptial rite ends with drumming by his followers. The newlyweds begin to dance, followed by family, and finally everyone.

Kerstin and Lars met as members of a folk dance group. During the reception they lead the "Vava Vadmal, a folk dance known as the weaving dance, its music provided by an accordion and a guitar hooked up to amplifiers., Katrina Thomas's notes: Most Swedish-Americans are Lutherans or Methodists, emigrating between 1840 and 1910, passing through New York City, to settle the upper Midwest. However, I photograph two Swedish weddings in NYC, one, being a Swedish bride who marries a Norwegian. She wears a white wedding dress. The other couple chooses to wear traditional dress of a particular region. Both brides wear the crown of the Vasa Order, originally a fraternal society for Swedes but now open to all of Scandinavian descent.

Circling the "p'yebaek" table, Kwang carries Jung Soo on his back, indicating the newlyweds' affection for each other. He carries her to show his satisfaction with his bride and she climbs on his back to demonstrate her happiness., Katrina Thomas's notes: Koreans emigrated to Hawaii first in 1903. Most came to the U.S. after 1965. Although Korean society is built on a complex of Confucian and Buddhist precepts, those here are largely Christian, but respect Confucian rules, which emphasize fealty to family and the authority of an elder or one of higher rank. Weddings are marked by much ceremonial bowing. A unique ceremony at the end, known as p'yebaek, officially accepts the bride into the bridegroom's family. Whereas formerly it was accomplished after the arrival of the newlyweds at the home of the bridegroom's parents, their conjugal home, today it is performed at the reception.

The newlyweds turn their chairs to sit side by side holding on their laps a coconut, a temple offering commonly given by Asian Indians, while the priests, known as mobeds, say prayers and intermittently sprinkle them with rice and bits of coconut., Katrina Thomas's notes: Zoroaster (c.660 - c.583 B.C.) was a prophet of ancient Persia, who founded a monotheistic religion, grounded on the belief that good and evil are absolutes. Today, the community is based principally on the Indian subcontinent, having emigrated there more than 1000 years ago. About 11, 000 live in the U.S., most being Parsi Asian Indians; the others are Iranians. In a temple, purchased in 1977, I photograph one Parsi Indian and one Iranian wedding, before this location becomes too small to accommodate their numbers. Two priests, perform a Parsi nuptial rite.

From her dowry chest, Susan brings gifts for the best man, her maid of honor, the master of ceremonies and for others who helped plan and conduct her wedding., Katrina Thomas's notes: Perhaps one million Lithuanians now live in the U.S., the greatest number in Chicago, and have been emigrating since the 19th century. Most are Roman Catholic; some are Lutheran. The first wedding I photograph keeps the most traditions, the bride wearing national dress which was woven, embroidered, and sewn especially for her. The newlyweds enter the feast under traditional handwork, a bridge of embroidered sashes, held by their attendants. For them, special dances are performed, and there are customs welcoming the bride to housewifely duties. They share a spikey wedding cake, baked over a fire. Recalling the past in the old country, the bride may carry a symbolic flame from the hearth of her childhood home, which after her marriage she might never ever visit, to the conjugal home where she will live as a wife. The newlyweds leave their celebration through gates formed by the wedding guests, exchanging kisses as they pass.

Outside the Ch ophel Ling temple, constructed in 1976, Lesl ie and Jalsa, wearing Tibetan congratulatory white scarves, greet their wedding guests., Katrina Thomas's notes: Kalmyks are the descendants of the Oirats, a semi-nomadic Asian Mongolian people, who lived in felt yurts, and adopted Tibetan Buddhism during their migration from Asia to the European part of Russia. They remained there for nearly 400 years. After World War II, despite America's stringent immigration laws, 571 were admitted in 1951 and 1952, as displaced persons, under a special dispensation of the US attorney general. Others soon followed. Their weddings observe rules and hours, set by an astrological priest, for specified events which incorporate their traditions of a white road. It is based on the fact that milk and milk products are essential to the culture of a herding people. I photographed one wedding in Philadelphia. All the others took place in their rural neighborhood of Freewood Acres that has taken root in Howell Township, NJ.

During the Eastern rite Catholic the nuptials of Sahera and Faiz the sound of women ululating accompanies the "Lohengrin" processional. At the altar the priest ties a white "communion bow" on Faiz's sleeve which was given him at the time of his first communion., Katrina Thomas's notes: Chaldeans are Eastern Rite Catholics, who emigrated from Telkaif in Iraq to the Detroit area, and built their church in Southfield in1948. In 1990 and 1992, I photographed two weddings, keeping customs that are now obsolete. In one such event, women put a boy child on a bed made up for the newlyweds in the hope that the first born will be a son. The other custom is a henna evening for the bride in her home, attended only by women. Today the henna evening is a grand affair attended by both sexes and celebrated in a public place. Wedding receptions have become Americanized. Those traditional elements that remain are the welcoming zeffa, Middle Eastern line dances, and the sound of women expressing joy by ululating, in Arabic known as haullhula.