ɮudō Weddings

Execution

Weddings are grand affairs. To find someone in the vast world you occupy, and someone you have decided you want to spend the rest of your life with, is incredible. On the dawn of the wedding day (the beginning of the day), the partners leave whatever encampment or settlement they are currently in and go walking for the full sun-day. They are allowed to take their day sleep out on the road or they may walk through it. This is to be a time of introspection, of self-reflection, and the only parameters are that the partners are not to see each other and are to be back at the setting of the sun.
The family and close friends of each partner dress them in the wedding clothes. If no one can be found, they do it themselves. Wedding clothes are typically a stiff embroidered vest and solid-colour tunic and pants, all in the region's colours. This varies with region, however: the partners could be wearing skirts, sashes instead of vests, no tunics or vests, ceremonial belts, etc. Shoes are up to tradition and are often not worn. The partners stand facing each other holding hands.
The wedding typically begins once the first star becomes visible. Then the most senior elder ties their hands together with a leather boot strap or a sandal thong. If no one can be found, they also attempt to do it themselves. Sometimes draping the strap over their hands is enough; if there are more than two partners, this is typically much easier. This signifies the bond of the journeys they will take together. The elders of the encampment/settlement/village then recite whatever traditional wedding vows they have. It can be a song, a myth that they believe ties into the ideals of marriage, or advice. At the end, the elders untie the partners' hands- the physical bond may be gone, but the spiritual bond has sunk in and will be there forever.
The partners then go to their families, who are holding the wedding cloaks. These cloaks are typically handmade by the partner (though often with help from their family). It is supposed to be made of the best material the family can afford, durable and warm. The outside's border has promises from one partner to the other embroidered onto it. The words trace the hem, and are akin to Western "wedding vows." I promise to love you, I promise to protect you, I promise to listen to you, etc. The partners take the cloaks they made and put them on each other, giving the other the gift they made. Finally, they embrace and kiss, and they are married.
The partners spend one night in their own tent/hut/home. When their night sleep is over, the wedded partners pack up their supplies for a long journey (usually a moon month) and head out. They are back in their normal clothes but with their wedding cloaks now, which is why it is so important they be durable.

Participants

Elders

The elders are the ones that organise the day and timing of the wedding. The most senior elder is the one who binds the partners together and officially marries them.

Family

The families of the partners help a great deal with the making of the wedding cloaks. The whole family is supposed to pitch in as much money as they can to help afford a good material for the cloak. They dress their family member in their wedding clothes and encourage them. The families are also busy cooking the wedding feast all day while the partners are out on their final solo walk.

Partners

The ones getting married.

Observance

The wedding itself usually takes place under a full moon. This is supposed to signify the union of the light and the dark, of the light in the dark and the dark in the light. No one is perfect, we are all a mix of good and evil; just as the black night sky is sprinkled with stars. A wedding is held under the stars so the ancestors may watch over their descendants as they are married. This also gives the partners an easy way of knowing when their wedding journey is supposed to end- one full moon to one full moon.