FT Series

Weddings — a summer special

From exhausted bridesmaids and over-excited guests to ridiculous cakes, photographers and writers shed light on our most hopeful tradition

Why weddings are a perfect window into modern India

Photographer Mahesh Shantaram on his ringside view of the ultimate social theatre

Marriage, Tijuana-style: Yvonne Venegas on her father’s wedding photography

In the 1970s, José Luis Venegas and his wife Julia opened a photographic studio with a fresh idea

Novelist Geoff Dyer on the joys of his bargain-basement wedding

‘Was it mean of us doing as we did? Is having a big wedding an extravagant version of getting your round in at the pub?’

Olivia Laing: why I’m marrying the same man twice

We’ve had the register office warm-up. Now comes the grand-scale event

John Paul Evans’s wry take on the family portrait

The pictures show the artist and his partner in a number of absurd domestic scenarios

Fairytale for sale: the brides reselling their dream dresses

Natasha Caruana collected photographs posted online by women hoping to find buyers for their gowns

More from this Series

Too good to eat: the art of the wedding cake

Why the highlight of the feast is all about self-expression

Nilanjana Roy on two very different Indian weddings

Sometimes it’s the smaller, less lavish ceremonies that leave a big impression

‘A wedding is always late for a marriage already in full swing’

The writer and critic on being descended from divorcees and what an ideal wedding promise might be

The curious phenomenon of mock weddings

These all-female ‘dress rehearsals’ for nuptials became a feature of US women’s colleges