White Wedding?

I recently learned an interesting phrase in Italian: Matrimonio in bianco.

Literally translated, this means white wedding (or white marriage). But it does not at all mean the same thing as that phrase in English.

When we talk about a white wedding, we are talking about a formal wedding in which the bride wears a white dress, with a traditional ceremony, followed by a reception.

In Italian, a white wedding is an unconsummated marriage.

Romance Language

Italian may be the most romantic language in the world. You can say just about anything in Italian and make it sound absolutely beautiful. Dianne Hales explores every aspect of Italian in her wonderful blog, Becoming Italian Word by Word, and she has a lot to say about some of the most romantic sayings in Italian. Some of these sound pretty good in English, too.