The bedding is not theoretically part of the ceremony but it's a tradition.
In this world, that's a ritual. This is what people did at weddings.
The consummation of the marriage was a big part of the marriage.
It's one thing to say the vows,
but you actually want to show that the marriage
was consummated, so after the wedding there will be a wedding feast
that will last for many hours with drinking, and dancing, and music.
But at a certain point when you reach the bedding,
the men and the women will separate
and the men will pick up the bride
and carry her up to the nuptial chamber and undress her along the way
and deliver her naked to the bed.
And the women will do the same thing to the husband.
A wedding, that was a much more public affair in the middle ages
than it is today.
MARTIN: They'll be carried up separately. Usually the bride first
so she's naked in bed when the husband comes up
and he's naked by then, too.
And there's a lot of bawdy jokes and ribald commentary
and suggestions.
It's a very kind of bawdy, sexual, sort of, occasion.
And then they'll throw them in bed together and they'll wait nearby.
They won't actually watch the bedding.
But it's expected that the marriage will be consummated at that point.