Exploring Different Wedding Traditions Across Cultures

Weddings are different in every culture in the world. Because there are so many different cultures that practice different wedding traditions, modern weddings have become a melting pot of many traditions.

However, each small moment in a wedding can be traced back to one specific tradition from one particular culture.

We’re taking a look at some of the different wedding traditions from different cultures worldwide.

Street View

Her wedding day is nerve-wracking for a bride because she knows that she will be the focus of the entire day. Everybody will be looking at her and her dress and judging her by them.

However, in Jamaica, the pressure is made ten times worse because brides are made to walk through the streets of their towns for the entire village to see the dress. If the bride doesn’t look her beat, she is scorned.

It’s All Rosey

Most weddings are filled with floral arrangements, but they are not often used to show that the bride and groom have accepted one another as spouses. In India, this is standard practice.

During the wedding ceremony, the bride will place a flower garland around her husband’s neck to show that she has accepted him as her partner. The ceremony is called Var Mala.

Breaking The Glass

You might think that breaking crockery at a wedding is bad taste, but it is a tradition for the groom to step on a piece of glass and break it in a Jewish wedding ceremony.

The breaking of the glass symbolizes the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and signifies that there is no joy without some sadness.

Cheers

At any modern wedding, it is commonplace that the bride and groom share a few drinks with their friends and family to celebrate their big day. However, it is a tradition for the bride and groom to share a drink at the ceremony in some cultures.

In Japan, the couple must drink sake together at their wedding ceremony to become husband and wife. Upon taking the first sip of their sake, the couple becomes husband and wife, sort of like kissing the bride in a traditional ceremony.

Planning Ahead

In Germany, families begin to plan for their daughter’s wedding long before she will ever get married. They start saving for the wedding as soon as their daughter is born!

When a little girl is born, several trees are planted in her honor. When the girl gets old enough to get married, the trees are sold ahead of her wedding day to ensure enough money to pay for the wedding.

Baby Carriage

Nowadays, not every married couple will have a baby. Most people are deciding not to have children these days because of the world’s economic and social climate.

However, in Czechoslovakia, a baby is placed into the couple’s bed before they ever sleep in it to promote fertility. Doing this is said to ensure that the couple will conceive happy and healthy children during their marriage.

Let Them Eat Bread

The wedding cake is one of the most critical parts of a wedding reception. Watching the couple cut the cake together is a heartwarming moment that everybody is glad to witness. However, in Norwegian culture, the cake is a little different.

In Norway, wedding cakes are made from bread and cheese. Not the cake you’re hoping for when you get invited to a wedding, but it is said to be delicious.

No Bathroom Breaks

In Indonesia, wedding traditions are seen as a little torturous. Ahead of the wedding, the couple is made to confine themselves to their home for the first three days after being married.

For newlyweds, it seems romantic and likes it will be the time of your life spending three days uninterrupted with your partner, but there’s a catch. During those three days, the couple is not allowed to use the bathroom. They are meant to bond over their full hearts and their full bladders.

Straight Faced

On her wedding day, a bride is usually happy and full of joy as she prepares to walk down the aisle to her new husband. However, in the Congo, this is not the case.

The tradition is not to say that Congolese women are not in good spirits on their wedding day, but they are made to remain straight-faced as they go about their wedding day to show that they are serious about marriage.

A Dollar A Dance

At any wedding, many people would like to talk to the bride for a spin around the dance floor and usually get the privilege simply by asking the bride to do so.

However, in Cuba, dancing with pride does not come without its cost. At a Cuban wedding, you are made to pay if you want the privilege of dancing with the bride. All you need to do is pin money to the bride’s dress, and you’re in with a chance to dance.