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How did the Romans congratulate a couple on their wedding day? The concepts of wedding and marriage were not quite what they are now back then, but I assume that celebrations and congratulations were not unheard of.

I can think of many possible nice things to say and I can put them in Latin, so the focus is on attested, especially multiply attested if any, congratulations.

I am currently on my way to a wedding, but this question is not urgent as the couple appears not to be very fluent in Latin and might not appreciate its use quite enough. (Note added later: No Latin ended up being used at the wedding.)

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Roman weddings, although merry, were somewhat more solemn than modern ones and the central aspect were serious hymns. There is a work by Ausonius called Cento Nuptualis in which a wedding is described. In that work, some things that are said are:

O digno coniuncta viro, gratissima coniunx, sis felix, primos Lucinae experta labores et mater!

Fortunati ambo, si quid pia numina possunt, vivite felices!

In the Trinummus by Plautus there is a wedding and the celebrants are addressed in the following way:

Di fortunabunt vostra consilia

Also, a very standard expression is the following:

Di tibi bene faciant.

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  • Link to the relevant page in Ausonius: books.google.cl/…
    – Rafael
    Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 13:26
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    The work is called Cento Nuptialis, and the full citation is Aus. Cent. Nupt. 6.
    – Rafael
    Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 13:33
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    @Rafael There is a chapter of that work that is named the Cena Nuptualis, but I have changed the title to that of the overall work.
    – Tyler Durden
    Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 15:39

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