Marriage cord
From MeiLinWiki
The marriage cord is the public confirmation and culmination of the Tremontine and Sairish wedding ceremony. The officiant, always a Father, lays the cord loosely around the couple's hands, recites the wedding prayer to Pagg, asks the couple to make their vows, and then ties three knots in the cord around the woman's wrist--one for "Obedience," one for "Humility," and one for "Fidelity." Each knot is ceremonial and must be done in a certain way, and the three are all different. The end of the cord is then given to the new husband to lead his wife around; for the rest of the wedding celebration, he cannot let it go, which leads to expected hilarity.
In royal weddings, the husband leads the wife by the marriage cord directly from the wedding vows through the halls of whatever house they've married in to their bedchamber. Traditionally, the halls are deserted and the couple unobserved during this little journey.
In classical times, the marriage cord was bound to the bedpost to signify the wife's submission and to make sure she didn't run away. It is reported that the custom began with Temmin the Great's marriage to the White Horse Clan chief's daughter.
Marriage cords are elaborate; the higher status you are, the more elaborate the cord is likely to be, but it always has a strand of purple and a strand of gold (or gold color), the colors of Pagg. If you are very poor, two strands of cotton in the correct colors can be had from the Father's Temple itself and simply twisted back on themselves. Marriage cords are available both bespoke and ready-made in shops. Royal marriage cords are made with silk and threads of silver and gold, and have as many as 50 spiderweb-thin strands; artisans vie for the honor of making royal marriage cords.
In all families, regardless of rank, the marriage cord is a treasured keepsake; in Sairland, it is often hung in the couple's bedchamber over the door for good luck and marital harmony. Royal marriage cords are kept in the treasury along with the crown jewels. Marriage cords going back to Temmin the Great's son Gethin the First can be seen there.
