Wedding is a significant event in everyone’s life, and some might shock you. We know that wedding is the celebration of love between two people as it is the day when friends and family come together and watch two people unite in love and life forever. Well, weddings are something to celebrate worldwide, and everyone loves them. However, different countries where the traditions are so unusual and weird that we have never heard of. Some of these traditions are lighthearted and funny, as for the others are taken very seriously and not to be mocked.
Here are some unusual wedding traditions from around the world:
Scotland – In Scotland, the night before the wedding, the bride and groom are ”kidnapped” by their friends, bound and blackened. Well, not precisely blackened, but covered in soot, custard, molasses, and flour before taken on a parade around the town. This prenuptial tradition involves a huge amount of booze. Though it does not sound like the dream wedding, there is a reason why they follow this tradition – the blackening is supposed to ward off evils before the couple tied the knot. This tradition is still widely followed by almost everyone.
India – A very traditional custom is for the bride’s sisters and cousins to hide the groom’s shoes when he arrives at their wedding. Indian traditions demand that shows to be removed at the mandap entrance or altar where the marriage is solemnized, and that is when the groom’s shoes are ”stolen”. It is a battle of wits and ingenuity between the bride’s family, which does its best to steal the shoes, and the groom’s family trying to protect them at all costs. There is much laughter and teasing. If the bride’s relatives succeed in stealing the shoes, the poor groom must shell out whatever amount the girls demand to get his footwear back.
Germany – Shattering many porcelain or glass dishes before the wedding is a long-held German tradition. The bride and groom have to clean up the mess themselves. The belief behind this seemingly destructive act is that it will bring the couple good luck. Another custom more common in Germany’s villages is ”kidnapping the bride” by friends of both the bride and the groom, and having the groom to hunt for her. The third custom is ”log sawing” in which a log is placed between two sawhorses, and both the newlyweds have to work together to saw it in half.
Poland – In keeping with an ancient Polish tradition, the groom and his parents arrive at the bride’s house before the wedding, where both sets of parents bless the couple. Another quaint old custom is to prepare ”passing gates” that leads to the newlyweds’ reception venue. The gatekeepers ”bribe” their way through by offering vodka to the ”gate keepers”. The parents accord the newlywed couple a warm welcome with the traditional bread and salt at the reception gate. While the bread signifies prosperity, salt represents life’s hardship, which the couple will face together.
Sweden – Two customs dominate a Swedish wedding – coins in the bride’s shoes and kissing the guests. Her father places a silver coin in her left shoe while a gold coin from her mother is placed in her right shoe, symbolizing that she will never want. At the wedding reception, the guests await an opportunity to kiss either the bride or the groom, sometimes both of the stars are favorable! If the groom goes out of the room for a while, all the male guests get to kiss the bride, and vice versa – all in a queue, though.
France – The French have a wedding night prank that goes by the name of ”Chiverie”. In this, the newlyweds’ friends and relatives gather outside their room and get busy clanging and banging assorted pots and pans. The din is intended to disturb the resting couple and have them come out in their wedding attire. They are then expected to provide refreshments to the ”trespassers”.