Knots and vows

1 What connects Pamela Anderson, Eminem, veteran anchor Larry King and Melanie Griffith? Deliberately omitting the most famous names on this list, which is definitely not comprehensive.

2 In the days of the Raj, who or what were the ‘fishing fleet’?

3 A ubiquitous part of most Hindu weddings are the choora, or ceremonial bangles worn by the bride, usually in red and white. Customarily, the bride could only remove them after a year and then wear bangles of her choice. What were the only circumstances, other than her husband’s demise, under which she could remove her choora earlier?

4 Something common until the early 20th century. If you were awarded a ‘heart balm’ by a court of law, what would you be getting?

5 While it is now the colour of choice for most Western weddings, white was a fairly uncommon choice for a bride’s wedding dress till the mid-19th century. Whose marriage in 1840 started off the tradition of white gowns?

6 Traditionally, grooms in north India arrive on a mare, with a sarbala, usually a nephew for company. Why is his face covered with garlands?

7 Increasingly popular in Western and affluent Indian weddings. What is a marryoke?

8 There are many famous prenuptial agreements, mostly to do with infidelity. But a celebrity couple — a singer and an actress — who married in 2006 signed an agreement that takes away the singer’s entitlements in case he ever uses recreational drugs again. Name the couple.

9 In the 1770s, why did the construction of a toll road from London to Edinburgh cause a huge spurt in the number of visitors to a hitherto obscure village named Gretna Green?

10 In which community are couples married under a canopy called a chuppah, after which they sip wine and the groom steps on the glass to crush it?

Answers

1. They married the same people twice: Anderson with Rick Salomon, Eminem with Kim Scott, Larry King with Alene Akins and Griffith with Don Johnson. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton are probably the most famous example

2. Girls from England who came to India to find grooms among civil servants and other officers working here

3. If she is pregnant before her first anniversary

4. A settlement from a breach of promise case, when one partner sues the other for going back from a promise of marriage

5. Queen Victoria, with Prince Albert

6. So that no one casts an evil eye on him on his way to the ceremony

7. It is the choreography of a popular song with the participants of a wedding, including the bride and the groom. No Indian destination wedding is complete without one

8. Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman

9. After the change in marriage rules in England, runaway couples would flee to Scotland to marry. Gretna Green was the first village across the border on the new road

10. Jewish marriages; the glass is crushed in remembrance of the destruction of the second temple by the Romans

Joy Bhattacharjyais a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup

Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj

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