From the bride tossing her bouquet to single female guests to wearing something old, new, borrowed and blue, American wedding customs are still so popular today that even the most nontraditional brides happily take part. (Why tempt fate and start off your new marriage with anything other than good luck vibes?) But America doesn't have a monopoly on such rituals — other countries too have their own beloved wedding customs.
Some are sweet (female guests in Sweden kiss the groom when his new wife leaves the room). Some are perplexing (couples in Congo are forbidden to smile on their wedding day). And some are downright strange (engaged pairs in Mongolia must kill and butcher a chicken to find a healthy liver before being allowed to wed). But what binds these seemingly disparate customs from near and far is one simple thing: love.
If you follow this custom, the theory goes, you will find eternal joy with your soul mate. So even if certain Indian brides must first marry a tree or a South Korean groom has to tolerate getting his feet whipped by family and friends, it's all worth it in the end. When love and happiness ever after are the outcomes, it's a win-win for brides and grooms.
We've rounded up 45 of the most awe-inspiring rituals from lands far, far away to give you an idea of what's happening beyond your backyard. If you're particularly charmed by a certain custom, feel free to adopt it for your own "I dos" even if it's outside your heritage. When it comes to love and weddings, there are no borders.
Want a glimpse of your future spouse? Chow down on salty bread. That's what single Armenian men and women do. According to the custom, if you eat a slice of the high-sodium specialty — which must be prepared by a happily married middle-aged woman or your grandmother — you will hopefully dream about your husband- or wife-to-be. Let's hear it for carbo-loading!
While most about-to-be marrieds brim with excitement and anticipation, Congolese brides and grooms must keep their happiness in check — during their entire wedding day, from ceremony to reception, the two are not allowed to smile. If they do, it would mean they weren't serious about marriage.
Good news: French brides and grooms traditionally eat chocolate and champagne after the reception.
Bad news: They must consume these treats from a toilet bowl. The point is to give the twosome strength before their wedding night; unfortunately, it might give them something else.
Let's hope the groom remembers to remove the arrowheads. In China, a prospective husband will shoot his bride with a bow and arrow several times then collects the arrows and breaks them during the ceremony, to ensure their love lasts forever. What would Cupid do?
Get that wetsuit ready. In Fiji when a man asks a woman's father for her hand in marriage, he must present his future father-in-law with a whale's tooth. A nice tie would be so much easier&
Many brides-to-be in other countries go on strict diets to lose weight before the wedding. Not so in Mauritius, where young girls are forced to pack on the pounds before their weddings. The chubbier she is, the better for the husband who is thought to be wealthy with such a well-fed wife.
A bride's family would hire a "good-luck" woman to take care of her as she traveled from her home to the groom's in an elaborately decorated sedan chair. Attendants were busy shielding the bride with parasols and tossing rice (a symbol of health and prosperity) at the chair.
In their first bit of housekeeping together, German brides and grooms clean up piles of porcelain dishes that their guests threw on the ground to ward off any evil spirits. The lesson: working together, the couple can face any challenge thrown their way.
Centuries ago England restricted marriage to couples who were 21 and over. But that didn't stop young lovers from finding a loophole, or in this case a nearby Scottish town without such limitations. Today that village, Gretna Green, is still popular for couples who want to elope.
Taking the term "groomsman" literally, on his wedding day, the groom's BFF becomes his barber when he pulls out a razor and shaves his face. But the groom's day also has a sweet side: His new mother-in-law will feed him honey and almonds.
As wedding reception hosts, the parents of Guatemalan grooms can do whatever they want, including smash things. When the newlyweds arrive, it's a tradition that the groom's mom break a white ceramic bell, filled with grains like rice and flour, to bring prosperity to the couple.
On her wedding day, the Japanese bride having a traditional Shinto ceremony wears white from head to toe, including makeup, kimono and hood. White denotes her maiden status; the hood hides her "horns of jealousy" she feels towards her mother-in-law.
Villagers line up in the street to take a look at the bride. It's customary for them to call out negative comments if her appearance isn't up to snuff. If the majority is critical, she goes home and makes a second try at looking good.
In Lebanon, the wedding celebration, the Zaffeh, gets off to a rowdy start with music, belly dancing and shouting at both the groom's and bride's homes courtesy of the couple's friends, family and occasionally pro dancers and musicians. Eventually everyone ends up at the bride's house where the couple is showered with blessings and flower petals as they leave for the ceremony.
In this Scandinavian country, it's typical at weddings to serve a towering special-occasion cake called a kransekake. It's made with iced almond cake rings to form a cone shape, and a wine bottle is often placed in its hollow center.
How would you like to be all dressed up in your wedding finery and have your dad spit on you? It happens in Kenya after the ceremony when a Masai bride leaves with her new husband. The purpose is not to tempt fate by being too supportive of the newlyweds.
Before the ceremony, an infant is placed on the couple's bed to bless and enhance their fertility. Once they've wed, guests shower them with rice, peas or lentils to also promote fertility.
The bride will traditionally wear a silver-and-gold crown that has small charms hanging all around it. When she moves, the tinkling sound deflects evil spirits.
Spending the first three days confined to their home together sounds kind of sweet, certainly not a hardship for Indonesian brides and grooms — unless using the bathroom would require leaving the house!
Being a big mouth can pay off. Newly married Russian couples share a wedding sweetbread called karavaya (decorated with wheat for prosperity and interlocking rings for faithfulness). Whoever takes the biggest bite — husband or wife — without using their hands is considered the head of the family.
The bride's sisters and female cousins make off with the groom's shoe and, if he wants it back, he must pay ransom money for its safe return. This is one way to kick things up a notch!
In this lighthearted tradition, Chinese bridesmaids give the groom a hard time on the wedding day by putting him (and sometimes his guys) through a series of tests and challenges to prove that he's worthy of the bride. Then he must pay off the girls with envelopes full of money. That's what friends are for!
You've heard of the Chicken Dance. In the West Africa country of Niger, there's the camel dance done at the reception in the desert by a real camel. The humpback animal gets his groove on to a rhythmic drumbeat surrounded by wedding guests.
What's the price marriage? In remote parts of Papua New Guinea, it involves a woman's parents handing over a negotiated number of pigs and shells to pay for a man to marry her. The porkers are then slaughtered and served during the wedding feast.
The happy bride and groom release a pair of white doves — one male, the other female — into the air, which represent a harmonious life together for the newly married couple.
It's a Cuban custom that every man who dances with the bride must pin money to her dress to help the couple pay for their wedding and honeymoon. Bank on it!
In a gesture of respect, couples in Moscow take wedding photos at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin then lay down flowers afterward. Not exactly your typical wedding photo location but certainly one with a significant meaning.
Friends of the groom plant the Turkish flag, which features a red crescent and star, in the ground at his home on the day he is to wed. Depending on the area, objects like fruit, vegetables and even mirrors are placed on top, signifying the wedding ceremony has begun.
Don't wait until the reception's end to chat up a Venezuelan bride and groom — they could be long gone. It's good luck for the newlyweds to sneak away before the party's over without getting caught; it's also good luck for whichever guests catches on that they're gone.
Welsh bride think not just of themselves on their wedding day but also their bridal party. The bridal bouquet includes myrtle, an herb that symbolizes love, and the bride gives a cutting to her bridesmaids. The theory goes that if the bridesmaid plants it and it blooms, she'll be the next bride.
A Mongolian couple hoping to set a wedding date must first kill a baby chickens and cut it apart — holding the knife together — to find a healthy liver. They keep at it until they're successful. And you thought dissecting a frog in middle school was gross.
In China, brides typically walk down the aisle in a slim-fitting, embroidered dress ... what is called a traditional qipao or cheongsam. For the reception, they change into a more poofy, decked out gown with Western flare. But the bridal fashion show doesn't end there! To cap the night, Chinese brides often make a final change into a cocktail dress. Total: three dresses!
According to custom, a Russian man must go to the bride's parents' home on the morning of the wedding and prove his worth by either paying a "ransom" for his lady, showering the bride's family with gifts, or simply humiliating himself by dancing and singing until the family says "okay."
In Ireland when the bride and groom are dancing the bride must keep both feet on the floor at all times. Irish folklore states that if they don't, evil fairies will come and sweep her away. We imagine that this might make dancing slightly difficult...
Right before the wedding, it's common for Indian women to gather their closest girlfriends and sit for hours at a time to have their skin intricately painted, in tattoo fashion, with menhdi, which is paint made from henna. The elaborate and beautiful skin art lasts about two weeks making additional accessories totally unnecessary.
On the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, once the wedding has come to an end the relatives of the bride lay side-by-side face down on the ground whilst the bride and groom walk over them like a human rug. Just, ouch.p>
Brides and females of the Tujia people in China take wedding tears to a whole different level. Starting one month in advance the bride starts to cry for one hour everyday. Ten days into the waterworks her mother joins the picture, and 10 days after that grandma does the same. By the end of the month every female in the family is crying alongside the bride. The tradition is believed to be an expression of joy, as the women weep in different tones, reminiscent of a song.
After getting married, couples in the country are presented with a large log and a saw. By sawing the log in half, it is believed they are proving their ability to work together in overcoming obstacles.
In parts of India, there is a wedding tradition called "Joota Chupai" or "hiding the shoes." While walking to the altar the groom is required to take off his shoes. Once they're off, everyone from the groom's side of the family is expected to protect the shoe as the bride's family tries to steal and hide them. The tradition is said to be a playful bonding experience between the families.
In Peruvian weddings, the cake is typically assembled with ribbons attached to charms, with one fake wedding ring embedded into the center. The single lady who is served the slice of cake with the fake wedding ring inside is crowned the next to get married.
Guests work together to "abduct" the bride, whisking her away to an undisclosed location and demanding a "ransom" from the groom. Typical requests? A few bottles of alcohol, or — for those looking to really make the groom sweat — singing a love song in front of the entire party!
This is known as the "blackening of the bride." The bride and the groom are captured by friends the day before their ceremony and covered in everything from molasses and ash to flour and feathers before being paraded around town. The goal may seem to be ultimate humiliation, but the ritual stems from the practice of trying to ward off evil spirits.
In Sweden, whenever the bride leaves the table, all the ladies at the reception are free to steal a kiss from the groom! Sweden keeps the tradition gender-neutral so whenever the groom leaves the room, all surrounding gentleman are free to plant a peck on the bride.
Back in the day, when a Welshman fell in love and was ready to commit, he carved spoons from wood and gave them to his beloved. Decorations included keys (signifying the key to his heart) and beads (the number of children he hoped for).
If you're an Indian female born during the astrological period when Mars and Saturn are both under the seventh house, you're cursed; if you marry, be prepared for early widowhood. But wait, there's a remedy: Marry a tree first ("Do you, Mr. Elm, take thee, Cursed Cutie&"), then have it cut down to break the evil spell.
