MARTIN: Marriage in Westeros is based on marriage in the real middle ages.
In the North, you take your vows before a heart tree
because the Northerners worship the Old Gods.
The man and wife speak their vows in front of a weirwood
so the Old Gods will hear them, with witnesses.
In the South,
the predominant religion is the religion of the Seven.
That's a much more elaborate religion.
And the ceremony there is quite long and elaborate
and involves many vows to the various Seven gods
and promises to each other.
But one of the key elements of it is the changing of the cloaks.
Of course, we're talking nobility here. Not peasant marriages.
But Westeros is a very patriarchal society
and the girls are part of their father's house.
So her husband to be will put on the cloak of his own house
to show that she has passed from under her father's protection
to being under his protection.
The concept of romantic love,
it did exist in the real middle ages to some extent.
You didn't want your sons or daughters, if you were a lord, marrying for love.
I mean, that was insane. Your daughters were valuable commodities.
Marriage was a form of political alliance.
It was a way to cement a political alliance, to bind two families together.
Hopefully make peace between them
or to establish that they would be allies against a third common enemy.
And then, of course, the children of such marriages
have the blood of both houses.
So, now both houses are invested in supporting this child.
And royal marriages are one of the ultimate examples of this.