 The term "betrothal" indicates more than an engagement.It was customary to celebrate marriage in two stages, the first that of the contractual arrangements culminating in consent or "betrothal".After a period of perhaps one year in which preparations were made to establish a new home together, the second stage of actually conveying the wife to that home would be accompanied by a great feast such as that recounted in the Gospel of John as the Marriage Feast at Cana (Jn 2