Something borrowed: How is meaning created through wedding clothing rituals?

Ettridge, L. (2024) Something borrowed: How is meaning created through wedding clothing rituals? Undergraduate theses, University of Chichester.

[thumbnail of 2024003.pdf] Text
2024003.pdf - Submitted Version
Restricted to Registered users only
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (588kB)

Abstract

The study of weddings sociologically has been historically underdeveloped and focused largely on the importance of marriage as the product instead of the emotional ritual which starts the contract, the conversation around wedding clothing was even more limited. The main focus of the current study was to explore what meaning creation looked like for married couples who engaged with wedding clothing rituals before, during and after their wedding day. By using symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1986) as the theoretical basis for the research, the question ‘How is meaning created through wedding clothing rituals’ was investigated through the lens of interaction and its importance in human action. The findings were gathered from dyadic interviews (Bjørnholt and Farstad, 2012) with heterosexual married couples who each took part in their own non-traditional wedding clothing rituals. A thematic analysis and video data analysis was conducted on the interviews using Nassauer and Legewie’ (2018) analytical recommendations. Two analyses were used as part of a hermeneutic process (Gillo, 2021) to find deeper meanings within the text which went beyond the verbal data. As a result, the main findings suggested that meaning creation was not a singular process and included the formation of joint action, an internal interaction with the self, and a shared respect and consideration for the values of a partner. The study concludes with the findings supporting current literature on wedding rituals, with a recommendation for further study within this area focusing on the different types of traditional and non-traditional experiences and the affect they may have on meaning creation.

Publication Type: Theses (Undergraduate)
Additional Information: BA (Hons) Sociology
Uncontrolled Keywords: Marriage, Meaning, Wedding Customs, Dress
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women
Divisions: Academic Areas > Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences
Student Research > Undergraduate
Depositing User: Michelle Farndell
Date Deposited: 31 Oct 2025 10:53
Last Modified: 31 Oct 2025 10:53
URI: https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/8317

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item
▲ Top

Our address

I’m looking for