The betrothal period is where the husband begins to establish and excercise his authority over his new wife. We see this in Eph 5 where Christ, our betrothed husband, is active in establishing His authority over our lives (sanctification). We see reflections of this in the OT laws on betrothed women, where the death penalty was established for them and their lovers... reflecting the betrothed husbands authority over them just as if they were married. Similarly small reflections can be seen with Adam (who named Eve) and Isaac (who took Rebekah to his mothers tent). It can also be seen in the fact that Rebekah chose to obey Abrahams servant (who represented Isaac) rather than her old authority of mother/father/brother.