The simplest medieval wedding was the informal private marriage, but it was not recommended. All that was truly required was that the couple must say to each other “I take you as my wife” and “I take you as my husband” with some witnesses present. A few men found themselves married without realizing it—but this was a dangerous way of proceeding, for the girl.
The safe way was to have a public wedding after the proclamation of the banns for two Sundays. The usual wedding venue was the church’s outdoor front steps.
Churches were generally built in a central location for the population. Even small, ancient buildings that seem lost now were once near a crossroads or village settlement. In towns, churches often fronted the market square. No other place could compare in public visibility. Wealthy families might well pay for a private wedding Mass after the ceremony, or poorer families might schedule the ceremony for just before a regularly-scheduled Mass, but the ceremony itself still took place outside on the steps. Big churches had sheltered porches, since the doors tended to be built into a series of weight-bearing arches. The intentional witnesses to the ceremony could crowd onto the lower stairs or stand in the street, and every passer-by became an accidental witness.
The bride wore her best dress, and if she could, it was a dress made for the occasion. It was never white; that was a much later fashion. Color implied wealth, so her dress was more likely to be red or green; if she was in a wealthy Italian family, it was probably “cloth of gold.” In Italy, where display came to mean a great deal, the dress might even be rented. But for the rest of Europe, the dress was simply the bride’s most presentable garment. If she married in winter, clearly she needed a warm cloak, fur-trimmed if possible. The groom, likewise, was dressed in his best clothes for the weather.
So they met by appointment at the church, at noon or at the third hour, or later, they might even meet by an appointed clock time. All through the 1300s, towns were installing mechanical clocks, beginning with the big cities like Paris, Milan and Strasbourg. By 1400, at least half of medieval brides could choose to marry by a numbered clock hour.