1,454. Ways in Which One Should Not Effect Marriage

Hilchos Ishus 3:21

It has become the universal Jewish practice to effect marriage by transferring money or items that are worth money. If one wants to effect marriage through a document, he may, but one should not effect marriage through intimate relations. If a man did marry a woman by having marital relations with her, he would be given stripes for acting rebelliously in order to discourage others from acting in this immodest fashion but the marriage he effected is legally binding.

Hilchos Ishus 3:22

Similarly, if a man consecrated a woman without betrothing her first, or if he consecrated her in the marketplace, he would be given stripes for acting rebelliously but the marriage is legally binding. Again, this was done as a disincentive to the people, so that marriage practices should not resemble hiring a prostitute, as was done before the Torah was given.