Unique and Beautiful Wedding Traditions From Around The World

Weddings are a beautiful amalgamation of different families and, in many cases, different cultures as well. And cultures play a significant role in establishing one’s roots and their consequent progression into the modern world. Here are a few unique wedding traditions from around the world that will make you appreciate the world you live in even more:

South Korea:

Before the groom leaves with his bride, he is subjected to a specific ritual wherein the family members tie his feet together and beat his feet with a stick, or in some cases, even with a dried fish. All this is done while he is constantly quizzed to test his attention span and memory. This ritual, known as ‘Falaka’, is supposedly a test of his strength and character. This tradition can hardly be seen at weddings in metropolitan cities like Seoul and Busan, but smaller towns still practice it.

Italy:

In Italy, it is customary to extend expensive wedding gifts to the couple at their wedding. In fact, the more expensive your gift is, the greater your social image would be in society. It is also considered embarrassing to give gifts bought on sale.

Scotland:

Scotlanders go to extreme ends to ensure that the newlywed doesn’t come in contact with any evil. In some parts of the country like the Orkney Islands, Fife, Aberdeenshire and Angus, the couple’s friends and relatives cover them in a black mixture of soot, feathers, flour and treacle and paraded through the streets to ward off evil spirits.

India:

With such diversity in customs and traditions throughout the length of the country, India has its own set of weird wedding rituals. In some areas of Bengal, in Hindu weddings, the mothers of the bride and groom are not allowed to attend the wedding ceremony as all the emotional attachment is considered inauspicious. Another crazy ritual is to dump the newlywed groom in a lake or a water body during the Sanjao festival in Goa. It is supposed to help foster fertility.

Germany:

On the eve of the wedding, the guests will turn up at the house of the bride to collectively engage in an activity of smashing crockery to bring good luck to the couple. The ritual is called Polterabend. The couple is then required to clean up the remains by working together. It is supposed to give them an idea of how to solve problems and teach them cooperation once they start their life together.

Sweden:

This is another very unusual wedding tradition. In Sweden, if the groom leaves the room with the bride still inside, the male guests are permitted to kiss the bride. Similarly, if the bride leaves the room, the female guests are allowed to kiss the groom.

China:

Crying is an important part of wedding rituals in some parts of China. Tujia brides are meant to cry for at least one hour every day. The mother of the bride joins the bride ten days into the ritual and the grandmother twenty days into the ritual.