Wedding Customs From Around The World

Here we put together a few of the wedding rituals in different countries.

God help the man who won’t marry until he finds a perfect woman and God help him still if he finds her - Benjamin Tillett

DENMARK

Arches of pine branches are built in front of the bride’s home, which symbolises fertility. During the reception, the groom disappears so that all the unmarried young men could kiss the bride and then the bride disappears while all the single young girls kiss the groom.

FINLAND

The bride has to walk from house to house with a pillowcase to collect wedding presents. A married man walks beside her holding an umbrella to symbolise protection and shelter. During the reception, the bride wears a golden crown, and is blindfolded. She is then spun around, while other unmarried girls dance around her, and the one she crowns will be the next one to get married.

NORWAY

Friends and neighbours plant two small pine trees on either side of the bride and groom to symbolise fertility. The bride walks with a silver crown and silver charms, and the music that is created by the charms is supposed to ward off evil spirits.

SWEDEN

The mother of the bride presents her with a gold coin and places it in her right shoe while the father places a silver coin in her left shoe, to ensure that their daughter will never be poor. The groom however presents her with three gold rings - the engagement ring, the wedding ring and the motherhood ring.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

An infant is laid on the wedding bed to symbolise fertility. The bride and the groom break plates, and the number of pieces the plates break into, is supposedly in direct proportion to the success of their married life.

HUNGARY

The bride wears an elaborate headdress made out of strands of wheat as a symbol of fertility and an egg is presented to her to ensure the health of her future children.

BULGARIA

The bride tosses a dish filled with wheat, coins and raw eggs over her head… if the dish breaks then it will bring her good luck.

ROMANIA

Girls begin preparing their trousseau at the tender age of 6.

GERMANY

When a baby girl is born, several trees are planted. These trees later become the bride’s dowry.

INDONESIA

Thousands of guests attend the wedding reception and the bride and the groom have to greet each guest!

FILIPINO

The groom throws a spear onto the front step of his bride’s house to let everyone know about the intended marriage.

NATIVE AMERICA

When a youngster sibling marries before his older sibling, the older sibling must perform a traditional dance in a pig trough!

FIJI

The grrom is expected to present the bride’s father with a whale tooth!

SCOTLAND

The bridegroom has to carry a large basket filled with stones on his back from one end of the village to another till the bride comes out and kisses him.

JAPAN

The bride wears a purple coloured dress as it is their colour of love.

CHINA

The groom’s family gives a gift of a whole roast pig to the bride’s family.

AFRICA

Young girls get trained to be good wives at a very young age and they learn secret codes that allow them to communicate with other married women with out their husband’s understanding. In Somalia, a girl can be engaged even before she is born. In Sudan, a man must pay his wife’s family, cattle for the loss of their daughter’s labour.