World Wedding Traditions

The world of weddings is a diverse place, so we thought you may be interested to know about wedding traditions in different countries around the world. Apart from our Anglo-Saxon traditions of something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue, there are many, many other wedding traditions - here are just some of them below. Perhaps you'll incorporate some of them into your destination wedding?

Austria

In Austria it used to be thought unlucky if a woman married a man whose surname started with the same letter as hers

The bride was not supposed to practice writing her married name before the ceremony as it was thought to bring bad luck

Bermuda

A wedding cake has a small tree sapling placed on top of it which is then planted at the couple's home, so they can watch the tree grow as their marriage grows.

China

On the wedding day the groom goes to the bride's house and brings gifts, sometimes wrapped in red paper to symbolise good luck, which he gives to the bride's friends to "bribe" them into letting her go. The couple then walk to the wedding location together.

Estonia

A role reversal of the bride throwing the bouquet takes place in Estonia when the groom is blindfolded and spun round. He then puts his top hat on one of the single men in the room, who will then be the next to marry.

France

During the wedding reception the newly married couple drink from a two handed cup called the "coup de marriage" to cement their unity.

Germany

Close before the wedding day friends and family of the couple throw china and crockery to the ground in front of them to give them a happy life. The more pieces there are, the happier their lives should be.

Greece

Here the couple wear their wedding rings on their left hands until the wedding ceremony when the best man swaps the rings to their right hands and places crowns on their heads. These symbolise their being crowned king and queen of their domain (home) and the ribbon which joins the crowns is to symbolise their unity

Unmarried friends of the bride write their names on the sole of her shoe. Those whose names aren't rubbed off at the end of the night will be married within a year

Greek favours are usually sugar covered almonds in a small bag. There must be an odd number of almonds in each bag, symbolising that the couple can't be parted.

Italy

Italians believe that Sunday is the luckiest day on which to get married, and May and August are not popular wedding months.

Confetti was invented in Italy when sugar covered almonds in small bags were thrown at the couple after the ceremony for good luck and fertility.

"La borsa" (the bag) is when the bride carries a small silk bag into which guests place money to help pay for the honeymoon. This also extends to cutting up the groom's tie and selling off the bits!

During the reception the couple will break a glass - the number of pieces the glass breaks into symbolises the number of years the couple will be together.

Japan

During a Shinto Wine Ceremony before the wedding the couple each take it in turn to drink sake in front of a priest. They drink three times and the ceremony symbolises their dedication to each other.

Mexico

At a Catholic ceremony the bride will leave her bridal bouquet at the foot of a statue of the Virgin Mary to thank her, ask for her blessing and to ask her for a good life. The bride then joins her groom for the priest's final blessing to be married.

At the reception all the men who dance with the bride have to pin money on her gown.

Morocco

On her wedding day the bride takes a purification bath in milk before having her hands and feet henna tattooed.

Turkey

Turkish brides also write the names of their unmarried friends on the sole of their shoe, however unlike in Italy it's the friends whose names don't rub off which will marry the soonest.

If you catch a brown sweet thrown by the bride then you will marry very soon.