I really love learning about other culture’s wedding traditions, don’t you?
I recently saw an episode of a reality show where one young woman was marrying a man from Korea. She had moved to Korea, and they were planning their wedding there with his parents. When she told his parents that she wanted to dance with her father at her wedding, they laughed out loud at her. Apparently they had never seen that at a wedding, or even heard of it.
Now I’m not saying that dancing with your parents is the most crazy or unique tradition we have here at our weddings. However, it is interesting that other cultures would never think to do that at their weddings. I’m sure there are people in the world who would find tossing the bouquet, feeding each other cake, or having a big old drunken party incredibly unconventional at the weddings they are used to seeing. Each of these things is pretty standard here in North America.
Because a bride dancing with her father is so common here in the USA and Canada, I got to wondering. What happens in other culture’s weddings that we would find unusual or interesting? What wedding traditions may be common at weddings around the world that Americans have maybe never heard of, unless they are decedents from those cultures? Also, what wedding traditions do we have that are variations of traditions found in other countries?
Let’s get into what I found:
Seven Wedding Traditions You May Have Never Heard Of
1. LASSO THE COUPLE
This wedding tradition is along the same lines as Unity Ceremonies (think Irish handfasting or lighting a unity candle). The wedding lasso tradition visually shows two people becoming one as they wed.
This is a custom that you’ll find in Catholic Hispanic and Filipino cultures. It also has roots in Mexico, the Philippines, and Latin America. Typically, the lasso tradition is performed after the couple exchanges vows. The officiant or godparents place a rope or lasso made of silk or flowers on the couple’s shoulders in a figure eight. After the lasso is placed, a prayer is said and the lasso typically stays put for the remainder of the ceremony.
According to this article from Brides, the lasso may also be a large Catholic rosary, which represents the couple’s connection to God. The figure eight symbolizes new beginnings in the Bible.
This was also a great article all about this tradition. It confirms that after the ceremony the couple will often use the lasso or rosary as a cherished heirloom keepsake. Some people opt to display it in their homes, while others put it away. Many couples have family lassos that are used from generation to generation.
2. PULLING CHARMS OUT OF CAKE
Any wedding traditions that have cake involved perk my ears up.
It is thought that this custom of “Ribbon Pull”, or pulling ribbons out of cakes that have hidden charms attached to them, started in Victorian England. It is often found around the world, including the southern parts of the United States. This article claims that the tradition originally intended for the ribbons to be pulled from the bride’s dress, which was later changed to cakes.
The way Ribbon Pull works is simple. Ribbons are placed in wedding cakes, with rings or charms hidden in the actual cake. Single women are asked to pull a ribbon out of the cake before the cake is cut. The charm they receive is supposed to help predict their future. Traditional weddings have most of the ribbons attached to no charm at all. Just one of them tied to a ring. The woman who picks that one is said to get married next.
Some interesting spins on this tradition have all the ribbons attached to a different charm. Some of the charms may predict marriage (like rings), while others predict children, wealth, and other blessings. According to Love and Lavender, a ring symbolizes marriage, clovers and horseshoes are for luck, phones are for good news, anchors mean hope, hearts mean love, and a thimble or button will mean that the “puller” becomes an old maid, among many other symbols.
3. OBSTACLES BEFORE COUPLE CAN LEAVE
Some people just don’t want the party to end!
In many cultures, there are wedding traditions designed to keep the party going or remind the couple that they should keep celebrating. From the old and elaborate French Charivari tradition of following the newlyweds home, making tons of noise along the way, to the simple American tradition of decorating the getaway car with cans and handwritten notes, there are lots of examples of guests making sure the couple keeps having fun and doesn’t forget the communities they came from.
In Japan guests will hold a blocker up so the couple can’t leave until they pay a fee. In Germany they do a variation of this by keeping the couple at the reception with a ribbon until they pay up. Most cultures will have some sort of “send off” or reminder of a tie back to their wedding guests as part of their after-wedding traditions. It is thought that these types of wedding traditions help remind the couple not to forget their loved ones as they enter into their marriage.
4. DECORATING THE MARITAL BED & HOME
The decorating of items within a couple’s future home by friends and family is super common around the world.
In Greece, friends and family will prepare the newlywed’s home in the days before the wedding, cleaning and decorating it. They pay close attention to the marital bed. Unmarried women will make sure the bedding is fresh and decorated with rose petals and ribbons. When the groom approves of this set up, the woman may add other items like money (for prosperity), rice (for roots), and a baby doll (for you know, babies).
In China, beds are often decorated with red and gold colors and covered with fruits for the couple to feed each other. This tradition is taken very seriously by some. It has incredibly specific instructions on how the bed is to be prepared and used. There are often superstitions surrounding who can prepare the bed. For example, pregnant women who recently lost a family member need not apply. Also, each member of the couple has to sleep in the bed every night for the first few months of marriage or else bad luck will ensue.
5. SAWING A LOG
Now this sounds like a fun tradition!
Also called a Baumstamm Sägen , German weddings often see the bride and groom working together to saw a log. The log symbolizes marriage obstacles. Guests often enjoy themselves and cheer as the couple cuts the log in two with a double handled saw.
Traditionally the log is sawed just after the ceremony, before the couple heads to the wedding reception. This is such an interesting and cool way for the couple to arrange the first obstacle they will overcome in their marriage, with their community cheering them on from the sidelines. The couple has to start practicing working together right away, with the support of their community on the sidelines. It sounds both fun and practical to me.
6. BURY A BOTTLE TO CONTROL THE WEATHER
Though this one is rooted in the USA, I only just recently heard of it.
In the South, particularly New Orleans, Louisiana, you can find this wedding tradition. It is thought that if you bury a bottle of bourbon whiskey up side down you will control the weather and avoid a rainy wedding day. As the recommendation states, the engaged couple should go to their venue one month before the wedding and that’s when they bury the bourbon. The bottle should be unopened, but the size of the bottle isn’t specific.
Lots of couples take pictures of this act. And, the bottle is often dug up after the ceremony to share at the reception. While I’m not sure the statistics of how effective this superstition is, it does sound like a fun tradition. It starts the hope and excitement of a wedding going as soon as you start digging that hole for the bottle.
7. WALKING IN CIRCLES
The act of the couple walking in a circle seven times can be found in many cultures.
For example, in Jewish weddings, when the couple enters the ceremony space (huppah), the bride walks around the groom seven times to represent the days of the week and the days of creation. This also symbolizes that her world revolves around the groom. Seven is considered a good fortune number in the Jewish faith.
The circle can be a symbolic breaking down of walls between the couple, or a mechanism to ward off evil and temptation. It can also represent the creation of a new family circle. Though historically the bride would be the one to circle, today many grooms and brides will split the walk, each circling three times, and then once together, creating their own world to enter into.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Though there are probably millions of currently used wedding traditions that I’ve never heard of, these ones are so interesting and I’m glad I got to share them with you guys. Hopefully one day I get to see them all!
More From Hummingbird Wedding Advice:
SIX Historic Wedding Customs We Still See Today
Canadian Weddings (And How They Differ From American Weddings)
12 Unity Ceremony Ideas & Customs
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