Marriage

===Bridewealth===
{{Main|Bride price}}
[[File:Thai Bride Price 2008.jpg|thumb|Traditional, formal presentation of the bridewealth (also known as "sin sot") at an engagement ceremony in [[Thailand]]]]
Bridewealth is a common practice in parts of [[Southeast Asia]] ([[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]]), parts of [[Central Asia]], and in much of [[sub-Saharan Africa]]. It is also known as brideprice although this has fallen in disfavor as it implies the purchase of the bride. Bridewealth is the amount of [[money]] or [[property]] or wealth paid by the groom or his family to the parents of a woman upon the marriage of their daughter to the groom. In [[Anthropology|anthropological]] literature, bride price has often been explained as payment made to compensate the bride's family for the loss of her labor and fertility. In some cases, bridewealth is a means by which the groom's family's ties to the children of the union are recognized.