Weddings and Cultures
One of the amazing things about this world is that how people celebrate a single action or tradition in different ways in each culture like celebrating a wedding and cultures. Here, wedding is an important factor which every person experience in their life. But the way of experiencing it differs from culture to culture. Generally, a wedding represents the celebration of dedication and union of two individuals in love.
But during this action, the two people bring their unique traditions together as well. Are you married or single? Well, we are asking this question because a married person is more familiar with the details of this tradition. Since it is a lifetime memory of two people, each culture tries to make it extra special for them by celebrating it uniquely and differently.
As a single, you must be curious about the celebrating a wedding in different cultures. Let’s explore some of these styles that are common in weddings!
Weddings and Cultures
A wedding is a cultural event that involves the union of two people in a marriage. If you are marrying someone from a foreign country or you’re just attending a destination wedding, you will experience a cultural shift. There will be many differences between the traditions and wedding celebrations.
Wedding traditions and cultures vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple, presentation of a gift (offering, rings, symbolic item, flowers, money, dress), and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant.
The bride and the groom dress up in fancy garments and then a wedding reception follows up the ceremony. There are some religious prayers and superstitious customs also that are part of the wedding day. Some cultures adopt the traditional customs of a white wedding in which the bride wears a white dress and veil.
The tradition of a white wedding was famous for the marriage of Queen Victoria. Within the modern ‘white wedding’ tradition, a white dress and veil are unusual choices for a woman’s second or subsequent wedding. The use of wedding is also part of the ancient traditions but the exact origin is unknown.
After the wedding, the couple spends their first moments as husband and wife in places where no other person or wedding guests are present. The marriage ceremony changes immature people into responsible adults. As a whole, a wedding is a cultural tradition in which a couple celebrates their love and their heritage. Black and white are the common colors that come to mind when someone mentions wedding attire.
9 Different Cultural Traditions
There are many ways to categorize weddings such as by cultural tradition. Along with different cultural traditions, there are many religious practices as well that bless the bridegroom and protect them from evil spirits. For instance, in Irish weddings, ringing a bell is a ritual that extinguishes evil spirits.
There are countless meaningful traditions from around the world symbolizing health, romance, unity, and happiness, so even if these ideas stray from your heritage, appreciating another culture’s tradition could be the perfect start to the next chapter of your life.
Nine common traditions of cultural weddings include:
Getting Mehndi on Hands
Among all, getting mehndi on hand is a common cultural tradition of Muslim weddings. In India, people prefer wearing henna rather than jewelry on their hands. It is traditional for the bride to spend hours getting mehndi. Although it requires a lot of patience and courage, the results of mehndi look beautiful and worth it. It also lasts for approximately two weeks on the skin.
Some interesting facts suggest that applying mehndi on the hands and feet of the bride is for medicinal properties. It keeps the bride calm from the stress during the period of the wedding ceremony.
Prohibition from Bathroom
A weird tradition in Indonesian weddings is that the newlywed couple spends the first three days of their marriage together with their family. Although it sounds sweet because the family follows the cultural heritage and spends the most time with the couple.
But in actuality, the point of this practice is to keep the newlyweds from using the bathroom to strengthen their bond and their bladders. The main purpose is to test their patience.
Flooded Mouth
In Jewish weddings, the brides and grooms traditionally eat chocolate and champagne after their reception. But the bad news here is that they have to consume these treats from a toilet bowl. The point is to give the twosome strength before their wedding night. Unfortunately, it may come with a stomach ache as well.
Indian Long-lasting Weddings
Indian weddings are all over surrounded by rituals and ceremonies when celebrating a wedding and cultures. The first event starts with an engagement ceremony where the bride and groom exchange wedding rings and their families exchange gifts and sweets. On the big day, the wedding couple put flower garlands around each other’s necks and the event is Var Mala Ceremony.
It shows that the bride has accepted the groom as her husband. During a religious ceremony, Brahmin (Hindu Priest) arranges a sacred yajna (fire sacrifice), and then the sacred fire (Agni) is considered the prime witness (Sakshi) of the marriage.
Physical Devotion
Japanese ceremonies are held in Shinto Shrines. In the cultural tradition, Japanese brides must physically show their devotion to their new in-laws. The relatives paint the bride in pure white color from head to toe which declares that she is a maiden.
The formal wear of the bride is a white kimono and an elaborate headpiece. The actual wedding procedure demands her to wear a white hood that hides her ‘horns of jealousy’. Then the couple signs a marriage contract in front of the witnesses.
Finding Love in Cake
In a traditional Peruvian wedding, the cake contains a lot of ribbons that are poking out of the side. Each ribbon reveals a specific charm but one of them has something more i.e., a fake wedding ring. If you are a single lady and you’re serving the piece of cake that has a ring in it, then it means that you’re in the next line to get married.
Muslim Marriages
Islamic ceremonies are simple and structured. All Muslim marriages are public and are never undertaken in secret. There are frequently arrange marriages by the parents of the young people and mostly the couple spends their life happily even when they have not seen each other. It is because they have good trust in the judgment of their parents and therefore, they believe that they will arrange a good match for them.
Shield from Husbands
In Chinese wedding ceremonies, Chinese brides are shielded from their future husbands until the ceremony. They wear traditional clothes for the weddings and to cap the night, she wears a cocktail dress.
Traditional dances are also part of the ceremonies that vary from country to country. The Chinese couple pays much importance to the date on which they are going to be married and, in this case, they get help from Fortune tellers.
Mixed Tradition
American weddings have combined traditions of all other cultures of celebrating a wedding and cultures. The civil weddings of the United States are simple ones. Most aspects of an American wedding are a part of European traditions. These include the wedding toast and the groom removing the bride’s garter to toss to the single men in the audience.
The wedding kiss is also an important feature of weddings in the United States. A big factor is that marriages are not arranged and people are given the free will to choose their mates for themselves.
