Marriage ceremonies around the world

Once in a lifetime you meet someone who changes everything.

Belgium

Wearing White, Giving Flowers, and Throwing Rice

In this country, the bride always, or almost always, wears a white dress. The man comes to the house of the bride and gives her her bouquet of flowers (also in white or other light colors). They go to the church and the man is inside when the father of the bride brings her to her future husband. And at the end, when they come out, the family throws rice on them.

Brazil

Important Details of the Wedding Ceremony

A wedding ceremony in Brazil has many important details. For example, the bridegroom can't see the bride wearing her wedding dress before the ceremony. The bride has to use something old, something new, and something that is borrowed. One more detail is that the rings should be engraved: the name of the bridegroom on the bride's ring and vice-versa.

How to Cause a Rainy Wedding Day

If a future bride eats directly from the pot, it will rain on her wedding day.

Colombia

The Candle Ceremony

In a Christian ceremony in Colombia there is the "candle ceremony" after the ring ceremony where the groom has to light the candle on his left and the bride lights the candle on her right. When they both have their candles lit, they put them together and light the candle in the middle. Then they have to put out their own candles and this means now they are the same body and they are going to share every moment of their lives.

El Salvador

Escorting the Bride to the Church

All the wedding ceremonies around the world try to express different things through different ceremonies. For some reason, in some places in El Salvador, when a wedding is celebrated, the wedding ceremony service starts without the bride. The groom and all the people who have been invited to the ceremony are waiting for her during the service.

When the wedding ceremony service starts, a group of seven men goes to the bride's home. The bride and her family are waiting for seven white cars which escort the bride's car until they arrive at the church. Finally, the bride enters the church and then the nuptial song starts playing.

Germany

Polterabend--the Evening with Lots of Broken Porcelain

Some days before the wedding, friends and relatives bring old porcelain and kitchenware to throw on the ground in front of bride and groom. This is supposed to grant them a happy, lucky life; that's why this evening event is called Polterabend - the evening with lots of broken porcelain. The German proverb - Scherben bringen Glück - which can be translated as "Broken crockery brings you luck" is derived from this custom. The Polterabend often develops into an informal and casual party.

Japan

A Wine Ceremony Symbolizes Dedication

A Shinto wedding has a typical ceremony. A couple drinks Japanese rice wine in front of a priest. First, the bride drinks the wine from a small cup. Next, the bride passes the cup to the groom and he also drinks the wine from the cup. They try to drink wine three times. This ceremony means that they promise to be dedicated each other.

Mexico

A Bouquet for the Virgin Mary

In Mexico at a Catholic wedding ceremony, the bride offers her bouquet to the Virgin Mary and leaves it at the foot of the statue in order to thank her and ask her for a good life and for her blessing. This is a solemn moment at the end of the ceremony. After that, she meets her groom and they receive the priest's blessing and that means the ceremony is finished.

Turkey

I Can't Read Your Name, So You're Next!

In Turkey, when a girl gets married, all her female friends write their names inside her bridal shoes. Before the ceremony, the single women autograph the sole of the bride's wedding shoe. After dancing the night away, Turkish legend has it that the person whose name who has rubbed off the most is going to get married next.

Wedding Superstitions in Turkey

- If you get married between two annual religious festivals that are two months apart, you might be unlucky.

-If you write the name of one of your friends under the sole of your shoes in your wedding ceremony, and it is erased, he/she will wed in a short period of time.

- If you catch a candy which is thrown by the bride, you will wed in a short period of time.

Which ceremony did you like best of all?