Marriage can be understood as a rite of passage that marks a fundamental transformation in a person's life, legally, politically, and economically, and often in that person's self-conception, as an individual and in terms of his or her place in society. This transformation combines and blurs various themes. We focus here on the following aspects, which are integral to the articles in this issue: the private and the public, tradition and innovation, the collective and the individual. The media play a crucial role in shaping all of these categories and their relationship. Finally, we consider the connections between marriage and religion, for a wedding is not per se religious. In the contemporary European context in particular, a wedding can take the form simply of the signing of a socio-legal contract. But nevertheless - or perhaps exactly therefore - marriages are often staged ritualistically and linked to religious symbols, worldviews, and norms.