Articles and Stories

May 26, 2015

By Amanda Scott

Being a recent bride myself, I am familiar with some of the U.S. wedding traditions, such as making sure to have something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new. Around the globe they also have some unique wedding traditions.

Newlyweds in Germany show their ability to work as a team by together sawing a log in half, in front of their wedding guests.

In France cake is not the traditional wedding dessert. Croquembouche, the dessert of choice, is a tower of cream filled pastry that can be decorated with different fruits and glazes. A less charming French tradition includes leftovers from the reception being placed in a toilet for the bride and groom to dine upon in order to be blessed with good luck.

It is common for Mexican brides to carry not one, but two, bouquets. One for herself and the other as a tribute to the Virgin Mary.

Indian brides and female guests are often decorated from head to foot in henna designs.

In Romania the bride is abducted by friends and family prior to the wedding ceremony. During this ritual the groom must show his love by paying her ransom through romantic gestures and money.

A white bell, filled with rice and grains, is broken by the mother of the groom to welcome the newlyweds to their wedding reception in Guatemalan tradition.  It is said to bring prosperity and luck.

In Kenya, the bride’s father spits upon her head and chest after the ceremony takes place. This protects the couple’s future good fortune.

Pakistani grooms wear a ring of flowers around their necks during their wedding ceremony.

In Korea brides and grooms exchange wooden geese or ducks as a sign of their commitment to one another.

The Japanese take part in a sake sharing ceremony. Both the bride and groom, as well as their parents participate, bonding the families together.

Filipino newlyweds release doves into the air as part of their reception. The release of the doves represents a long, peaceful life together.

In Poland wedding guests must pay in order to dance with the bride. The money is used towards the cost of the couple’s honeymoon.

A unity bowl is a popular tradition in Australia. Wedding guests hold stones during the ceremony, which they then place in a decorative bowl as a keepsake for the bride and groom. The unity bowl is displayed in the house of the couple to remind them of the support of their friends and family.

Red, not white, is the color of choice in traditional Chinese weddings. The bride not only wears a red vail, but her mother shields her with a red umbrella to encourage fertility.  The color red represents love and luck in the Chinese culture.

Scottish tradition includes blackening, in which the bride and groom are doused in alcohol and covered in feathers, flour, and ash the day before their wedding. This wards off evil and brings luck as the couple starts their new life together.

It seems that all of these traditions have one thing in common. They are practiced in the belief that they will somehow bring luck and a long happy marriage to newlyweds.