Gnomish Weddings

Gnomish weddings, like almost everything in gnome society, is bound up in paperwork and bureaucracy. More often than not, Gnomes do not marry for love, they marry for ties between families, for either political gain or stability. As such, their wedding ceremonies tend to represent this side of their culture.

History

Gnomish weddings history spans back to before the events of the Cataclysm. Ancient Gnome culture is believed to have been similar to what it is today, with an emphasis on family ties and close knit circles of influence. Bringing in a new member into a social group is something that is treated very seriously, as it brings together two family units.

Execution

Weddings often start with meetings between the family heads. First the family who are proposing the marriage will approach the heads of the other family. Presenting them with gifts of quality depending on the state of the families.
Should the initial proposition be accepted, the two families will meet in an open discussion to decide what all each family will offer up in the combining of the two households. These missions can take months to years to fully hash out the details. There are forms and contracts that are filled out, agreements made, and gifts given.
Once the contractual phase is completed, the actual wedding will be carried out. Gnomish weddings are often dry and formal. The heads of the family and the two gnomes who will be married meet together in a ceremonial conference hall for the reading of the contracts where a lawyer reads out all the formal contractual obligations each family has agreed to before preparing the last two documents, the wedding contracts, to be signed by the marrying parties.
Once the contracts have been signed, the two gnomes are considered married. Their new family unit will often have ties to both paternal houses while still technically starting their own house. This often leads to gnomish social structures to resemble spider webs with many smaller family units tied to other family units through marriage. In the case of Imperial Gnomes, often times the dedication to family is replaced with dedication to their corporation, and marriages can be used to help better tie the different divisions of a single company together or to cement trade agreements between different corporations.