[originaltext] In order to marry in Britain, both the man and the woman must

In order to marry in Britain, both the man and the woman must be over sixteen. Anyone under eighteen must obtain parental consent. People can get married either in a registry office or m a church. On three Sundays before the wedding a public announcement of the forthcoming marriage has to be made in church, and announcement has to be put up on a board at the church or the registry office.
    In a registry office ceremony there must be two witnesses. On some occasions, especially when people have married secretly, two passers-by in the street have suddenly found themselves asked to witness a marriage! Although the number of registry office marriages is increasing, most people still prefer a church wedding. The bride, in white, is attended by bridesmaids, and led by a proud father up to the church altar, where the bridegroom is waiting, nervously, attended by his best man.
    And it seems sensible to wait. One quarter of all marriages between people under twenty-one end in divorce. In Britain in 1972, there were 124,248 divorces, "Look before you leap"(三思而行) would be good advice to people thinking of getting married.