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Have you ever listened to that part of the wedding where the minister asks if anyone knows any reason why the couple should not be married, and wondered why he'd ask such a thing? In the wedding I was at last weekend, the minister asked, "if any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now, or else for ever hold your peace." I thought that was rather interesting. It still seems like a formality, but the question was for "lawful" reasons. That was the original intent of the question. It was in the olden days, where word of legal decisions travelled far more slowly, and once marriage licenses were issued, it would take a while for word to get around, and the marriage ceremony was the last chance to stop a marriage.
