Collective wedding

In 324 BC Alexander the Great married Barsine, the eldest daughter of Darius, the king of Persia. In the same ceremony, he wed many of his leading officers and outstanding soldiers to other Persian women, about 80 couples in all.[1] Today, these ceremonies are now performed in places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kurdistan, Palestine, South Korea, The Philippines and Yemen.

Mass weddings are sometimes preferred for economic and social reasons, such as the reduction of costs for the venue, officiants, decorations, as well as the celebrations afterwards which can sometimes be shared between multiple families.[2] In 2011 a collective wedding ceremony in India involved 3,600 couples, including Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, and Adivasi. Many of them were the children of poor farmers.[3]

In the Philippines, mass civil or religious weddings are a common phenomenon, and are often sponsored by government and charitable groups as a form of public service.[4] Local politicians and sometimes celebrities participate as common wedding sponsors at such mass rites, which enable couples (and by extension their children) to benefit from formal state recognition of their unions.[5] Parish churches also regularly offer collective Nuptial Masses for their low-income congregants, at times in partnership with the secular government of that predominantly Catholic nation.[6]

Since 7 November 1960 (18th Jumada al-awwal 1380), under the guidance of Syedna Taher Saifuddin, Dawoodi Bohras have been conducting mass marriage events, at several venues, called Rasme Saifee (Arabic: الرسم السيفي ).[7] Currently the largest event is held two days after the birthday of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin in Bombay. The first such mass marriage was held in Jamnagar. The event is now professionally looked after by the community organisation, International Taiseerun Nikah Committee (I.T.N.C).

The Unification Church is known for holding collective weddings, which for some couples are marriage rededication ceremonies.[8][9]