[watwut]

The traditional purpose of the wedding was meeting and joining of families. The "as many people as possible" knowing about it was not a consideration all that much.

> They can have a quiet and private ceremony instead if they have stage fright.

That would be called "a wedding".

[t-3]

There's definitely very huge cultural differences that might be getting in the way here. Many wedding traditions explicitly invite all and sundry to attend and witness. Most historical traditions around weddings that I'm aware of treat them as a community event at the very least, not a private affair involving only two families.

[carlosjobim]

Of course it was a huge consideration, as adultery was taken very seriously. And still is in some parts of the world.

> That would be called "a wedding".

That would be called a secret wedding, a very popular trope in old romance novels.

[ThrownOffGame]

Clandestine weddings have presented a huge problem for Church and State authorities at various points in space and time.

A clandestine wedding would often leave significant doubt about the facts of the ritual, the participants, and their actual state of mind. In most places it really is not legal to conduct a clandestine wedding without strict regulation and some sort of documentation, before and after the fact.

No officiant: invalid. No witnesses: invalid. Prior bond: invalid. Duress or coercion: invalid. These are all really, really important reasons for public ceremonies attended by, essentially, randos off the street.