Meaning & use
bride and groom
Last updated
Meaning
nounplural
The two people who are getting married or have just married, considered together as a couple at their wedding.
Grammar: Takes a plural verb: the bride and groom were photographed.
Patterns
- the bride and groom
The bride and groom cut the cake together.
Guests threw petals as the bride and groom left the church.
A speech was made in honor of the bride and groom.
Common combinations
- toast the bride and groom
- Everyone stood to toast the bride and groom.
- the happy bride and groom
- The happy bride and groom posed beside the lake.
- the bride and groom's first dance
- The bride and groom's first dance began at eight.
- congratulate the bride and groom
- We lined up to congratulate the bride and groom.
Synonyms and how they differ
- newlyweds
- Newlyweds refers to a couple recently married, even weeks later, not only on the wedding day.
- the couple
- The couple is neutral and fits any pair, including same-sex weddings.
- the happy couple
- The happy couple is a warm, slightly fixed phrase used in announcements.
- newly married couple
- This is a more formal description.
Word family
- bride noun
- a woman getting married
- groom noun
- a man getting married
- bridal adjective
- relating to a bride or a wedding
- bridegroom noun
- the full word for a man at his wedding
Commonly confused: bride and groom or groom?
bride and groom vs groom
As a verb, groom means to clean and brush an animal or to prepare someone for a role; only the noun refers to the man at a wedding.
Practice
At the reception, the best man raised a glass to the ___.
Choose one answer.
Bride and groom is the fixed phrase for the wedding couple. The other options break the phrase or change its grammar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bride and groom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.