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Wedding
Customs from Around the World
Each
traditional wedding custom is very special because
it marks the importance and significance of the
marriage bonds which are being celebrated in the
wedding.
Wedding
Customs in Brazil
Important
Details of the Wedding Ceremony
A wedding ceremony in Brazil has many
important details. For example, the bridegroom
can't see the bride wearing her wedding dress
before the ceremony. The bride has to use
something old, something new, and something that
is borrowed. One more detail is that the rings
should be engraved: the name of the bridegroom
on the bride's ring and vice-versa.
María
Celina Brandao
Wedding
Customs in China
Important
Details of the Wedding Ceremony
In
China, if a new couple meets in a park, the
bride and bridegroom should exchange a new
handkerchief and wish each other good luck. It
has to be red and have a picture of mandarin
ducks. Because ducks always stay together, it
means they will stay together.
We
have this custom so they share happiness and
congratulate each other. Traditionally, the more
happiness you share, the more good luck you get.
So, don't forget to prepare these handkerchiefs
by hand when you are going to get
married.
CongHong
Lu
Biting
the Apple at the Same Time
In
a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, a couple
always has jokes played on them by their friends
or guests. For example, during the ceremony an
apple is hung with a thread before the couple.
Then people who attend their wedding ask the
bride and groom to bite the apple at the same
time in order to show they love each other.
However,
at the moment their lips touch it, one of their
friends suddenly pulls it away and the couple's
lips meet and they have a big kiss instead of
biting the apple before them. Interestingly,
this action or behavior always causes a loud
laugh.
Cheng
Limin
Colombia
The
Candle Ceremony
There
is a traditional custom in Colombian Christian
weddings. After the ring ceremony, the groom and
the bride each has to light a candle. This
custom has a special meaning. Each lighted
candle represents the life of each one.
After
that, they light another candle together and put
out the first candle of each one, leaving only
the one that they lit as a couple. This bright
candle means that now they are the same body and
they are going to share every moment of their
lives.
María
Lopez
The
Candle Ceremony
In
a Christian ceremony in Colombia there is the
"candle ceremony" after the ring ceremony where
the groom has to light the candle on his left
and the bride lights the candle on her right.
When they both have their candles lit, they put
them together and light the candle in the
middle. Then they have to put out their own
candles and this means they become just one body
for the rest of their lives.
Jimena
Baquero
Eastern
Europe
Asking
the Girl's Father for Permission
In
my country, the engagement is an event previous
to the wedding. One month before the wedding,
the groom asks the girl's father for permission
to take the girl out of her family house. He
goes to her house early in the morning with a
band, if he can afford the expense. All the
neighbors come to see the new bride and to tell
her something nice
Stoyan
Grigorou
El
Salvador
Escorting
the Bride to the Church
All
the wedding ceremonies around the world try to
express different things through different
ceremonies. For some reason, in some places in
El Salvador, when a wedding is celebrated, the
wedding ceremony service starts without the
bride. The groom and all the people who have
been invited to the ceremony are waiting for her
during the service.
When
the wedding ceremony service starts, a group of
seven men goes to the bride's home. The bride
and her family are waiting for seven white cars
which escort the bride's car until they arrive
at the church. Finally, the bride enters the
church and then the nuptial song starts playing.
Walter
E. Hernández
Germany
Polterabend—the
Evening with Lots of Broken Porcelain
Some
days before the wedding, friends and relatives
bring old porcelain and kitchenware to throw on
the ground in front of bride and groom. This is
supposed to grant them a happy, lucky life;
that's why this evening event is called
Polterabend—the evening with
lots of broken porcelain.
The
German proverb—Scherben bringen
Glück—which can be
translated as "Broken crockery brings you luck."
is derived from this custom. The
Polterabend often develops into an
informal and casual party.
Ulrike
Gahn
Indonesia
Receiving
a Holy Shower
In
Java, the bride and the groom mustn’t meet
each other on this day because that would bring
them bad luck. In the photo [above] I
was receiving a holy shower with water and
flowers from my mother.
Kartika
Sinclair
Japan
A
Wine Ceremony Symbolizes Dedication
A
Shinto wedding has a typical ceremony. A couple
drinks Japanese rice wine in front of a priest.
First, the bride drinks the wine from a small
cup. Next, the bride passes the cup to the groom
and he also drinks the wine from the cup. They
try to drink wine three times. This ceremony
means that they promise to be dedicated each
other.
Maki
Kubo
Korea
They'll
Have Daughters and Sons
If
a bridegroom smiles a lot in a wedding, he will
get a daughter as a first child. If a bride
takes some nuts, she will get a lot of sons.
(Traditionally, the parents of a bridegroom
throw nuts and plums to a bride after a wedding.
At that time, a bride takes nuts or plums in her
shirt.)
Minjung
Song
Mexico
A
Bouquet for the Virgin Mary
In
Mexico at a Catholic wedding ceremony, the bride
offers her bouquet to the Virgin Mary and leaves
it at the foot of the statue in order to thank
her and ask her for a good life and for her
blessing. This is a solemn moment at the end of
the ceremony. After that, she meets her groom
and they receive the priest's blessing and that
means the ceremony is finished.
Miriam
Mostkoff
Middle
East
Wedding
Parties in Arabic Countries
We
have to do a big celebration and use special
kinds of candles. Also, we use henna. It
looks like the hair color mixture but we use it
to make nice designs on the hands like
tattoos.
Esras
Dawood
Nepal
A
Pinch of Red-Coloured Powder on the Bride's
Forehead
One
of the important events in our traditional
wedding is that the groom puts a pinch of
red-coloured powder on the bride's forehead.
This symbolizes that they are now husband and
wife. This red color on the woman's forehead
differentiates whether she is married or
not.
Milan
Gurong
Saudi
Arabia
The
Cutting of the Cake
When
the bride and groom start walking to the wedding
cake, all the wedding guests move out of the way
and look in anticipation at the bride and groom.
Then
the groom holds the bride's hand carefully and
together they hold the knife. After they cut a
small piece of the cake, the groom holds the
piece of cake and the bride eats a bit of it.
After that the bride holds that piece of cake
and lets the groom bite another bit of the
piece.
Then
the attendants start cheering and clapping for
them. The cutting of the cake symbolizes that
the couple have started taking care of each
other and looking after each other.
Sulaiman
Alquraishi
Who
Took the Bridegroom?
In
my country (Saudi Arabia), after the wedding
ceremony, the religious man says that the bride
and the bridegroom are man and wife. Then the
bridegroom goes to a party hall—a
special hall for weddings—near his
house. His friends follow him in their cars and
honk their horns and flash their lights, so the
people know that there is a wedding
party.
Our
special thing is the food. At the party, they
cook special, traditional food—rice
and a whole sheep on a big plate—and
they cook 8-15 plates because usually there are
a lot of people at the party.
After
dinner, the bridegroom goes out from the back
door and takes his wife to start their
honeymoon, but sometimes—or
usually—his friends will play big
jokes on him. For example, they may take him
before he leaves with his wife to have a picnic
in a place he cannot get back from (the desert)
for about 2-3 days to make him late for his
honeymoon.
Mazen
Al-Qarawi
Spain
Take
Note if You're Getting Married in
Spain
If
a groom's friend cuts a piece of the groom's
tie, he'll get married soon.
If
the bride wears something blue, she'll have a
happy marriage.
If
the groom sees the bride's dress, she'll have
bad luck during the ceremony.
Carmen
Caffarena
Taiwan
The
Groom Has to Promise to Take Care of the
Bride
One
the morning of the wedding day, the very first
thing that happens is for the groom to pick the
bride up from her house. Before the groom sees
the bride, he has to kneel down in front of the
bride's parents and promise them that he will
take good care of their daughter. After that the
groom is allowed to take the bride to the car
which is waiting outside the house. Then the
whole day ceremony will begin.
Stanley
Chen
Tests
and Games for the Bridegroom
In
Taiwan, a bridesmaid and best man are not
necessary in a traditional wedding because
usually the parents will play these roles.
The
bride and bridegroom can not see each other the
day before the wedding.
Friends
will design some games or tests and the
bridegroom has to pass them before he can take
his wife to get married. For example, friends
will ask the groom about the bride's private
things.
If
he answers correctly, he can go on to the next
game, but if he doesn't pass the game, he has to
give money to everyone and then he can go to the
next step of the game playing.
Those
friends want to teach the groom it is not so
easy for a man to get married to a beautiful
woman.
Wan-Pei
Chang (Vania)
Turkey
I
Can't Read Your Name, So You're Next!
In
Turkey, when a girl gets married, all her female
friends write their names inside her bridal
shoes. After the wedding ceremony, if someone's
name has been rubbed off and can not be read
anymore, it means this person is going to get
married next.
Arzu
Cimitay
Wedding
Superstitions in Turkey
If
you get married between two annual religious
festivals that are two months apart, you might
be unlucky.
If
you write the name of one of your friends under
the sole of your shoes in your wedding ceremony,
and it is erased, he/she will wed in a short
period of time.
If
you catch a candy which is thrown by the bride,
you will wed in a short period of
time.
Turhan
Ece
Venezuela
Promises
to Love and Take Care of Each Other
The
most important and unforgettable event of
someone's life is marriage. In Venezuela, the
groom has to promise his bride to love her his
whole life and to take her forever.
The
bride also has to repeat the same commandments.
It is popular for the couple to sing the
promises to each other. This moment is really
beautiful. In addition, the couple receives a
list of commandments.
Sonia
Dale
Write
to us at topics.mag@gmail.com
and
describe a typical wedding custom in your country.
Don't forget to include your name and your
country.
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