wedding traditions accross cultures

[missk1989]

Im intrigued. In the UK the only traditions I know of are cutting the cake (and keeping the top layer for the christening of first born) father of the bride giveing her away, first dances and speeches. Im interested to hear about other traditions from cultures accross the world.

 

[MrsMandy]

I have just been helping my friend put together her favours and found out it is traditional to have 5 almonds to represent Health wealth happiness long life, and fertility wished for the happy couple.
Its also apparently traditional for the bride and groom to leave before the end of the party (I said bugger that, I paid for it, I'm there til the bitter end!! ! )

 

[emyandpotato]

In Sikh weddings the couple are joined by a short rope and walk three (?) times around the Guru Granth Sahib, man first, but equal distance to the book. Ceremony is similar to old English ones in that it's very much about the man being the protector and guide for his wife. Also, izzat (family honour) and thus dowry is a big thing, and weddings are getting insanely big and expensive. Think this is also true for other Indic based cultures, so Hindus and Pakistani Muslims. Oh and of course mehndi (sp)- the henna on hands and feet- is another Indic thing, though think it's popular in other areas too, though not sure about that.

 

[FAB mama]

Im intrigued. In the UK the only traditions I know of are cutting the cake (and keeping the top layer for the christening of first born) father of the bride giveing her away, first dances and speeches. Im interested to hear about other traditions from cultures accross the world.

Here (in the US), we save the top layer of the cake to eat on our first wedding anniversary.

 

[Moomette]

In Finland the couple normally walk in together rather than the bride being given away as most couples have been living together by that point anyway, so being given away isn't considered necessary. When cutting the cake, whoever stomps their foot down first as the knife goes down will be the "boss of the household". At some point during the reception the bride will normally get kidnapped by the grooms' friends and the groom needs to perform some sort of task to win his bride back whether it be writing a love poem for her, singing a song, or anything really. The hens and stags will normally make photo albums from the hen/stag parties that will get circulated around the guests during the reception, which is also the first time the bride and groom see them. There are also lots of other silly games that generally get played at the reception. At the end of the reception the bride will toss the bouquet and the groom the garter to unmarried guests and whoever catches it is said to be next to marry.

Here in New Zealand the only one I can think of is the couple get given little sown up horse shoes for good luck.

 

[Abigailly]

In Scotland we bind our hands together with Tartan. It signifies our 'togetherness'.

Also, I don't know if this is Catholic or Irish but at the start of the ceremony you light a candle each and then after you blow out your individual candles and light a big one together.

 

[emyandpotato]

Jewish weddings have the breaking glass to remember the destruction of the temple and the struggle of the Jewish people. In orthodox Jewish weddings the men and women eat separately, and sometimes dance separately I think? They also get married under the chuppah with both sets of parents.

At some (not all, we didn't do this) humanist weddings, which I think partly originated in Scotland, binding the hands together is a big thing.

 

[emyandpotato]

Oh and pretty sure with Hindu weddings the bride wears red.

Sikh weddings the male family members wear pink, orange or red turbans. Women I think often wear red too, cos of the Sikh/Hindu cross over.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Jumping the broom

 

[Natsku]

In Finland the couple normally walk in together rather than the bride being given away as most couples have been living together by that point anyway, so being given away isn't considered necessary. When cutting the cake, whoever stomps their foot down first as the knife goes down will be the "boss of the household". At some point during the reception the bride will normally get kidnapped by the grooms' friends and the groom needs to perform some sort of task to win his bride back whether it be writing a love poem for her, singing a song, or anything really. The hens and stags will normally make photo albums from the hen/stag parties that will get circulated around the guests during the reception, which is also the first time the bride and groom see them. There are also lots of other silly games that generally get played at the reception. At the end of the reception the bride will toss the bouquet and the groom the garter to unmarried guests and whoever catches it is said to be next to marry.

Here in New Zealand the only one I can think of is the couple get given little sown up horse shoes for good luck.

Damnit I was going to post about those, you beat me to it! Although I didn't know about the stomping the foot down one, that's interesting.

 

[dgirllamius]

I don't know any of the German traditions, but I googled it and this is what I found:

Car Procession - after the wedding a car procession is formed and drives through town honking their horns - others honk back wishing the couple good luck.

Costs - the father of the bride has to pay the wedding. This is an old custom but today normally both parents and the couple itself divide the costs for the wedding.

Dance - the first dance is danced by the bride and the groom, it is traditionally a waltz. The next dance is only for bride with her father and groom with mother, while bride's mother dances with groom's father.

First Night - to make the first night as difficult as possible, friends of the couple do lots of funny or sometimes cruel things. They fill up the rooms with balloons, hide lots of alarm clocks in the bedroom, take apart the bed, and so on.

Flowers - besides the flowers for the bride and in church, the hood of the wedding car is decorated with lots of flowers.

Junggesellenabschied - a few days before the wedding the groom and his male friends go to a pub or sometimes other places to drink and have fun. (the last time?)

Kidnapping of the bride - in some areas (mostly in small villages) friends kidnap the bride and the groom has to find her. Normally, he has to search in a lot of pubs and invite all people in there (or pay the whole bill). Sometimes this ritual ends badly.

Polterabend - this is an informal (informal dress and food) party at the evening before the wedding where plates and dishes are smashed (the broken pieces are thought to bring good luck to the bride). The bride and groom have to clean up everything.

Rice - after the wedding when the bride leaves the church, friends throw rice on them and it is said that they will get as many children as rice grains stay in the hair of the bride.

Veil Dance - this is a popular game for a wedding evening. Every woman or man who wants to dance with the groom or bride, has to pay for it.

Wedding Cake - the wedding cake, mostly a large cake with lots of ornaments, has to be cut by the bride and the groom together.

Wedding Evening - at the wedding evening a lot of games are played, speeches are held (the first normally from the father of the bride), sometimes a wedding newspaper is handed out. Songs are sung, and so on.

White Ribbon - the bride carries lengths of white ribbon with her bouquet, and after the church ceremony is over and the guests are leaving the church, she hands each driver a ribbon that they tie to the radio antenna. (Haha now I know why I see ribbons on people's car aerials!!)

Wedding Rings - Germans wear wedding rings on the right hand - the groom and the bride have normally identical rings (wedding "bands" -- no diamonds).

Wedding Shoes - another tradition is to collect pennies for years and buy wedding shoes for the bride with this money.

 

[morri]

I don't know any of the German traditions, but I googled it and this is what I found:

Car Procession - after the wedding a car procession is formed and drives through town honking their horns - others honk back wishing the couple good luck.

sounds the same as a won world cup

Costs - the father of the bride has to pay the wedding. This is an old custom but today normally both parents and the couple itself divide the costs for the wedding.

Dance - the first dance is danced by the bride and the groom, it is traditionally a waltz. The next dance is only for bride with her father and groom with mother, while bride's mother dances with groom's father.

First Night - to make the first night as difficult as possible, friends of the couple do lots of funny or sometimes cruel things. They fill up the rooms with balloons, hide lots of alarm clocks in the bedroom, take apart the bed, and so on.

Flowers - besides the flowers for the bride and in church, the hood of the wedding car is decorated with lots of flowers.

Junggesellenabschied - a few days before the wedding the groom and his male friends go to a pub or sometimes other places to drink and have fun. (the last time?)
usually they dress up funny too and collect money with some funky performance. the night is basically a pub crawl.


Kidnapping of the bride - in some areas (mostly in small villages) friends kidnap the bride and the groom has to find her. Normally, he has to search in a lot of pubs and invite all people in there (or pay the whole bill). Sometimes this ritual ends badly.

Polterabend - this is an informal (informal dress and food) party at the evening before the wedding where plates and dishes are smashed or even toilet seats (the broken pieces are thought to bring good luck to the bride). The bride and groom have to clean up everything.

Rice - after the wedding when the bride leaves the church, friends throw rice on them and it is said that they will get as many children as rice grains stay in the hair of the bride.

Veil Dance - this is a popular game for a wedding evening. Every woman or man who wants to dance with the groom or bride, has to pay for it.

Wedding Cake - the wedding cake, mostly a large cake with lots of ornaments, has to be cut by the bride and the groom together.

Wedding Evening - at the wedding evening a lot of games are played, speeches are held (the first normally from the father of the bride), sometimes a wedding newspaper is handed out. Songs are sung, and so on.

White Ribbon - the bride carries lengths of white ribbon with her bouquet, and after the church ceremony is over and the guests are leaving the church, she hands each driver a ribbon that they tie to the radio antenna. (Haha now I know why I see ribbons on people's car aerials!!)

Wedding Rings - Germans wear wedding rings on the right hand - the groom and the bride have normally identical rings (wedding "bands" -- no diamonds).

Wedding Shoes - another tradition is to collect pennies for years and buy wedding shoes for the bride with this money.

Also there a goblet which has a smaller goblet hanging on two handles below the larger one, and the couple have to drink out of it at the same time.

and.... If a man isn't married by the time he is thirty he will have tp brush the front yard/step of the town hall and then he'll be "auctioned" off to the highest bidder