In civil weddings, the marriage is complete when the couple have said... I've forgotten what they're called... 'the contracting words' or something. (Source - my registrar ex-flatmate)
In terms of religion, it's the same. It doesn't matter what form of words they use, but they're married when they both say they're married, basically. The priest doesn't enter into it. It's the only sacrament where the person receiving the sacrament is also the minister of it.
Until the eighteenth century, clandestine marriages with only the couple present could be legal.
However, if only one person has said the vows, the marriage hasn't happened. The vows are implicitly understood as being conditional on the other person making similar vows.
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In terms of religion, it's the same. It doesn't matter what form of words they use, but they're married when they both say they're married, basically. The priest doesn't enter into it. It's the only sacrament where the person receiving the sacrament is also the minister of it.
Until the eighteenth century, clandestine marriages with only the couple present could be legal.
However, if only one person has said the vows, the marriage hasn't happened. The vows are implicitly understood as being conditional on the other person making similar vows.