Fun Wedding Traditions from Around the World for Your Special Day
May 27, 2020Going to all our cousins and friends’ weddings to see the same traditions all over again can be quite boring. We often think these are the rituals that can’t be escaped. But what if we experiment with our ceremonies and add some global touch to it. So let’s look at some fun wedding traditions from different parts of the world. These 6 wedding rituals from around the world can make your wedding fun-packed
Sangeet
1. The Shakespearean way
Every girl wishes her “Romeo” to re-enact the balcony scene for her. Though everyone already loves the sangeet this amalgamation with the balcony scene is sure to be a super hit. The night before the wedding, an Italian groom throws a surprise party called “La serenata”. It begins with the groom backed by musicians, serenading his fiancée, then turns into a full-blown bash, complete with a lavish buffet and all the couple’s friends and family. This Italian theme sangeet with the Shakespearean touch can be one of the fun wedding traditions to look up to in your own wedding.
2. Passionate Sangeet Tradition
Let’s give Sangeet a rowdy look by taking ideas from Lebanon wedding ritual. It includes music, belly dancing, dancers with flaming swords, drum rolls, extravagant entry of the couple and shouting at each other’s friends and family. It will fill the wedding with energetic zing.
3. Light-hearted Sangeet tradition
Let your cousin’s and siblings do some earnings for you. At the French-Canadian ceremonies, the bride and groom’s unmarried siblings and cousins have to perform a dance wearing weird mismatched clothes and brightly coloured ill contrasted socks. Guests toss money at them while they do. The money is collected and then offered to the newlyweds as a present.
Wedding Day Traditions
1. Chinese Fun Wedding Traditions for D-Day
While our Indian bridesmaids are always ready to give the groom a hard time with Joota Chupai for a well-deserved ransom but Chinese bridesmaids take it a step further. They play Roadies with the groom by putting him through a series of tests and challenges to test if he is worthy of the bride. Later he must pay off the girls with envelopes full of money. This tradition is called the “wedding door games” which can be a good add on to the joota chupai rasam.
2. Greek Groom Grooming
On the wedding day, Greek groomsmen have to groom the Groom’s face with a grooming(shaving) kit. This sounds all fun and games until they mess up really bad. Though greeks are really known for their sculpture and art, sculpting your friend’s face is beyond boundaries. You surely can’t save your neck with your friends being your stylist. To any consolation after that his sweet mother in law feeds him honey and almonds.
3. Tie The Knot The Mexican Way
Similar to Indians tying the knot on their wedding mandaps, Mexican bride and groom are also bound together in a unique fashion. While the couple is exchanging marriage vows, the minister drapes a lasso made of rosary beads and flowers around their shoulders in a horizontal eight structure, which represents the union of the couple. If we look at the shape, it resembles the infinity symbol, which could mean hoping this marriage lasts forever.
4. Romanian Ransom
Indians Jhoota chupai is old, now its time to “abduct” the bride, playfully of course. In Romania, there is a weird wedding ceremony where the guests “kidnap” the bride and demand a “ransom” from the groom. The ransom is in the form of a few bottles of alcohol or makes the groom do something funny like singing a love song or dance.
Vidai
1. The Filipino Fun Wedding Traditions
Vidai can be quite heart wrenching for the bride and her family. In some Hindu wedding traditions, the brides throw a handful of rice behind as she walks ahead with her husband towards his house. Rice is considered a sign of prosperity and throwing it behind towards her maiden house members is an acknowledgement of the unconditional love they have given her. To make the vidai more auspicious the Philippines couple releases a pair of white doves (one male and one female) into the air which represents a harmonious life together for the newly married couple. So let’s cleanse the spiritual debt with rice and at the same time look forward to a new step in life with the purity of doves.
2. Venezuelan wedding tradition
Imagine waiting for a reception to congratulate the married couple but you get the news that they have eloped. This is what happens in a Venezuelan wedding. It is considered a stroke of good luck for the newlywed if they successfully slip away before the party is over. It is also good luck for the guest who catches them during their escape plan.
3. Welsh Wedding Tradition
On her Vidai, a Welsh bride not only looks for herself but also for her bridesmaid. The bridal bouquet has a myrtle(herb). This herb is cut into pieces and is given to each of her bridesmaids. It is believed that if the herb is planted and it blooms then she will be the next bride.
Grah Pravesh
1. Russian Unusual Wedding Tradition
We have this famous Grah Pravesh ceremony in which the newlywed couple has to “Fish the Ring” out of a milk bowl. Which is done in order to see who will assert dominance between the two. In Russia, the newly married couples share a sweet bread called “Korowai”, decorated with wheat as a sign of prosperity and interlocked rings for spousal faithfulness. Between the couple whoever takes the biggest bite, without using their hands is considered the dominant one among the two. So let’s assert dominance by using our big mouth quite literally.
2. Save the Dates For Korean Wedding Traditions
One more interesting Grah Pravesh ceremony to steal from the Korean wedding traditions. In which after the wedding, the couple visits the groom’s family home for the “pyebaek”. At this rendezvous, the bride provides the new in-laws’ dates and chestnuts. Which is symbolic of the number of sons and daughters she hopes to carry in her womb. So her in-laws will toss those dry fruits at her which she has to catch using the skirt of her hanbok. In the end, the number of dry fruits she manages to catch is the said number of kids she will have.
3. Learn to balance from Armenian Fun Wedding Traditions
Want to make Grah Pravesh unique for the newlywed? Look at this unusual wedding tradition followed by Armenian locals. As soon as the groom and bride enter the Groom’s house, they are given a plate to break for good luck. Then they are given lavash (flatbread) and honey by the groom’s mother. They have to balance lavash on their shoulder and eat a lot of honey to symbolize happiness.
4. German Fun Wedding Traditions
Imagine the newlywed is poured with house chores as soon as they enter the house. Doesn’t sound fun right? What if its purposely done to increase their work? German’s have this weird wedding tradition where the guests throw piles of porcelain dishes on the ground and the couple has to clean them. It symbolizes that the couple can overcome any misery together.
You could modify the Grah Pravesh ceremony with another fun German wedding tradition. Where the newlywed is offered a big log and a saw. They have to saw the log together as a team. I hope the couples never “saw” it coming.
5. A New Catch to the Pag Phera
In pag phera the bride after her wedding visits her maternal home for the first time. Where she lives there for a day or two. After that her husband comes to take her back. Adding the Russian touch to this custom will be one of the fun wedding traditions to count on. Where the Russian man has to prove his worth to the bride’s parents’ by paying “ransom” for his lady. He could shower gifts to the bride’s family or simply humiliate himself by dancing and singing. This tradition is called “vykup nevesty”.
I hope these customs make the cut in your Big fat Indian wedding to make it an unforgettable phase of your life. Do you have any unique and awesome fun wedding traditions which could make weddings worthwhile? We would love to hear from you. Do check out our blog on Exceptional Indian Wedding Traditions.
