Different Marriage or Wedding Practices in Countries Essay

I. Africa: 1. In some African tribes, the bride and groom have their wrists tied together with cloth or braided grass to represent their marriage. 2. To honor their ancestors, some Africans pour Holy water, or alcohol, onto the ground as prayers are recited to the ancestral spirits. 3. The bride wears a veil made of plaited hair which represents reserve. 4. The people present wear traditional regional costumes. 5. The couple jumps above a brush covered with flowers, which symbolizes the starting of domestic life. 6. The Kola nut is most often used for medicinal purposes in Africa. It is also essential in most African weddings. The Kola nut symbolizes the couple’s willingness to always help heal each other. In Nigeria, the ceremony is not complete until a kola nut is shared between the couple and their parents. II. Arabia: 1. Traditionally, marriage was between paternal first cousins or other patrilineally related kin. 2. It was customary for potential spouses not to meet before the wedding night, and marriages had to be arranged by fathers, mothers, and other relatives. These practices are changing slowly and unevenly, but the tendency is toward fewer close-cousin marriages and for the couple to communicate with each other before the wedding. 3. The bride wears an elaborate veil and gets her hands and feet decorated with a drawing made with alhea (henna). 4. During the reception, men and women stay separated. 5. Men are allowed to have four wives at a time as long as they can treat them equally, but polygyny is uncommon in most of the population. Marriage is considered a necessary part of life, and almost all adults marry III. Caribe and Burmuda: 1. The bride and groom show off their finest clothes for the entire village. 2. There’s no need for a best man at an Island wedding. 3. A typical wedding feast features curried goat and spicy chicken jerky 4. The traditional wedding cake is a â€Å"Black Cake† with the recipe handed down from mother to daughter for many generations. The cake is traditionally served with a Hard Rum Sauce and all of the dried fruits are soaked in rum in a crock pot for anywhere from two weeks to one year. 5. Calypso music is played. 6. In the Bermudas people plant a tree for prosperity. IV. China: 1. Auspicious days are subject to interpretation by fortune tellers that perform the analysis based on one’s birth date (day and hour) after consultation with the Chinese almanac. It is said to be the oldest continuous publication known. 2. In the Chinese community it is considered bad form if an individual consults the almanac and performs a self analysis. That is why a fortune teller or Fung Suey [Feng Shui] expert is consulted. 3. The 15 day period from the middle to the end of the seventh lunar month is considered inauspicious because that is time of the Hungry Ghost Festival when the gates of Hell are opened and the lost spirits are allowed to wander the earth. They should not be invited to the wedding! 4. Decorations and gift wrappings are red as this color (and gold too) symbolizes happiness and wealth. 5. There are always rockets acting as protection against bad spirits. 6. The bride changes her dress three times during the wedding ceremony. V. England: 1. The familiar tradition of a flower girl throwing rose petals as she passes down the aisle before the bride is a reminder of days gone by when the bride walked to the church with her maids in waiting. Leading the procession was always a young girl throwing flower petals along the lane, so the bride’s path through life would be happy and laden with flowers. 2. The couple walks toward the church with their wedding procession over a path of orange blossoms. 3. Something Old – Something New – Something Borrowed – Something Blue†¦And a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe! This good-luck saying that originated many years ago in the Victorian era. 4. Most of the brides wear a horseshoe on one of their arms decorated with lace as an amulet. 5. The fruit cake is covered with marzipan. The upper section (baptism tart) is kept until the first child is born. VI. France: 1. A traditional French custom for the groom to call on his future bride at her home on the morning of their wedding. 2. In a church filled with incense and flowers, the couple stands beneath a silk canopy. A predecessor of the veil, a square of silk fabric, â€Å"carre'† is held over the head of the bride and groom as the couple received the priest’s final blessing. They were designed to protect the couple from descending malice. The same veil is used for the baptism of their new born child. 3. The bridal portion is put in the â€Å"nuptial wardrobe,† hand engraved with symbols of health and prosperity. 4. The couple drinks from the traditional wedding cup. 5. All decorations are white, and laurel leaves are spread out of the church when the nuptial couple departs. 6. On the wedding night, pots and pans are drummed to disturb the couple. The groom invites jokers in and some refreshments are offered. VII. Germany: 1. During the engagement period both the bride and groom wear a ring on their left hand. After the wedding they wear the wedding ring on their right hand. Usually the rings are gold with no diamonds. 2. Germany brides wear either very short trains or usually none at all attached to their wedding dress. If veils are worn they are of fingertip length and typically never worn over the face 3. The groom usually wears a black suit or a smoking jacket (dinner jacket) 4. Some weeks before the wedding the groom and his male friends go to a Kneipe (pub) to drink and have fun for his last time as a single man. 5. Before a church wedding the bride and groom will have been married in the Standesamt (Registry Office) by a registrar which is most often in the Rathaus (town hall). A witness is needed for the bride and also for the groom. 6. At a party on the evening before the wedding plates and dishes are smashed to scare off evil spirits. Only china can be used. Anything else would bring bad luck. The bride and groom have to clean up everything. This is to indicate that they can work together. 7. Together, the bride and groom will enter the church and walk down the aisle. Because it is not legal to have only a church ceremony, the couple will have already been legally married by a Standesbeamte. 8. As the couple walks to the wedding car, fir boughs are laid along the path to pave their first newlywed steps with fresh greenery to symbolize hope, luck and fertility. 9. On the day of the wedding, the guests go to couple’s house. VIII. Greece: 1. Before the wedding, tradition in Greece is to have your â€Å"Bed† made before groom actually sleep in it with the new spouse. During this ceremony, the bed is â€Å"made† with hand-knit linens and then adorned with Koufetta – almond candies, rose petals and, of course, money from friends and family for good luck. 2. When attending a Greek wedding, guests might wear a small â€Å"Eye† to ward off evil and keep the Bride and Groom protected from bad luck. 3. Greek Brides often put a lump of sugar in their glove for a â€Å"sweet† marriage. 4. Nowadays, after the wedding ceremony, guests are offered bombonieres. These delightful gifts of sugar-coated almonds are wrapped in net and attached to a small memento of your wedding. 5. Another hallmark of modern weddings is the wild and deafening loud concerto of automobile horns before and after a wedding ceremony. 6. In the reception a dance with handkerchiefs (Kaslamantiano) is enjoyed by all while stuf fed grape leaves, lamb skewers, and wine are served. 7. During the ceremony the groom is asked to honor the bride and she slightly touches him to put emphasis. IX. Italy: 1. A traditional Italian proposal begins with a romantic serenade. 2. Brides to be and their families gathered a â€Å"dote† or dowry of household goods and clothing in hope or marriage chests. This was often augmented with money or property. 3. In southern Italy, wild bachelor parties are uncommon as are raucous gatherings for the ladies. 4. Italian bride wears a white gown and veil. The white dress symbolizes purity while the veil, sometimes torn for luck, prevents the groom from clearly seeing the face of his intended before the ceremony, and thereby bringing bad luck upon the couple. 5. Almonds covered with caramel symbolize the joys and sadness of marriage. Sometimes the couple is pelted with sugared almonds. 6. In the reception, everyone enjoys the traditional dance called the â€Å"Tarantella.† X. Japan: 1. Sake Ceremony – known as one of the oldest traditional Japanese wedding customs, san-san-kudo, or sharing of sake is still performed today. 2. In Japan, brides may wear a colorful silk kimono or a shiromuku, a formal gown passed down over the ages and still used today as traditional bridal dresses. Some Japanese brides choose to wear a modern wedding gown. 3. The bride wears an elaborate white silk dress, various adornments, and a special wig. 4. In the reception there’s a dedication and some speeches, and the honored guests tell stories about the couple. 5. Kiogashi (colored sweets with flower shape), indicate that this is also a party. 6. Red is the funny and lucky color. XI. Korea: 1. In Korea, the marriage between a man and woman represents the joining of two families, rather than the joining of two individuals. 2. Before a Korean bride may be married, she must take part in the traditional Introduction ceremony, where she is accepted into the groom’s family. In a private ceremony, the groom’s family welcomes the bride. 3. The groom’s father may throw red dates at his daughter-in-law to bring her luck in fertility. 4. On the eve of the wedding (hum), the groom, bride, and her friends gather at the bride’s house. The groom’s friends arrive later, shouting and carrying lanterns to light the way and the bride’s things/dowry. Before entering they demand to be paid. When the payment of food and song is agreed upon, they enter and join with the others to celebrate. 5. Traditionally, a chest of gifts for the bride’s family was brought by the groom’s family. 6. The bride wears a multicolored silk dress with white sleeves and a black silk crown and she is made up with red points on her cheeks to scare away bad spirits. XII. Scotland: 1. Usually about a week before the ceremony the mother of the bride will hold a â€Å"show of presents† for her daughter. This corresponds to the bridal shower in other cultures. A slightly more raunchy tradition is the groom’s stag party. 2. The modern Scottish bride will wear a traditional or contemporary white wedding gown, while the groom dresses in traditional Highland kilt, kilt jacket and sporran. 3. The couple is either bag piped down the isle or traditional Gaelic hymns are played as they walk to the altar. The Highland Wedding is played at virtually all Scottish weddings. 4. Once at the altar the couple may choose to recite their vows in ancient Gaelic or to recite them in modern English. Following the vows the groom often pins a strip of his clan’s tartan colors to the bride’s wedding dress to signify that she is now a member of his clan. 5. Following the ceremony the bride and groom and all their honored guests head to a private home or to a restaurant for a lavish reception feast. At the typical Scottish reception you can count on the bride and groom being â€Å"piped† to the table of honor, where the bride will cut the first slice of wedding cake using a dirk (a long-bladed knife) that is provided to her by the piper. As the bride slices the first piece of wedding cake, custom dictates that her hand is guided by the hand of her new husband. 6. The wedding reception is filled with music, signing, much drinking and toasting to the health and happiness of the new couple. The celebrations can go on into the wee hours of the morning. 7. One custom that hasn’t changed for more than 700 years is the custom of the groom carrying his new bride over the threshold of their new home together. XIII. The Netherlands: 1. Dutch people are free to choose their spouses. The common basis for marriage is most often love. This does not mean that people marry independently of the constraints of class, ethnicity, and religion. 2. The choice of a partner is often class-based. Monogamy is the only marriage form allowed. 3. Many Dutch couples live in a consensual arrangement. Same-sex couples can marry and have the same rights as heterosexual couples. 4. A civil wedding ceremony, usually conducted in the town hall, is required in Holland to give marriage legality; so many couples have both a religious and civil ceremony on the same day. 5. The wedding ceremony is usually followed by a series of celebrations consisting of a reception, a formal dinner and a party, and it is common practice for family and friends to be invited to either all or just part of the celebrations, depending on their closeness to the couple. XIV. Russia: 1. The betrothal is a ceremony performed with the rites of the Eastern Church, and takes place eight days before the marriage. 2. During the interval between betrothal and marriage the bride’s girl friends endeavor to amuse her and keep up her spirits (for she is supposed to be in a state of lamentation and grief) by singing to her, and their songs tell of the happiness of married life. 3. On the day before the wedding they conduct her to the bath, where much time is spent in dressing her hair, while she listens to their songs. 4. Both bride and bridegroom receive a solemn blessing from their parents before leaving their houses, and even the wedding garments are blessed by the priest. 5. After the dedication, cups are thrown to the floor. Their breaking means happiness. 6. The bride and groom usually tie a doll to the wedding car or carriage if they wish their first child to be a girl, and a teddy bear if they want a boy. XV. Hawaiian: 1. The bride wears a long, white formal version of the muumuu called a ‘holoku. 2. Instead of a veil, a woven garland of island flowers, ‘haku lei’ is worn around her head. 3. The bride’s bouquet may consist of white orchid sprays. 4. The groom wears a long sleeve white shirt and white pants. A long red or colored sash is worn wrapped about his waist. A lei of maile and ilima flowers adorn his neck. 5. Hawaiian wedding bands bearing the couple’s name in Hawaiian are often exchanged. The name ‘kuuipo’ meaning sweetheart, is favorite choice for the bride. XVI. Philippines: 1. During the reception couples practice the Filipino wedding custom of releasing a pair of doves to symbolize a loving and harmonious marriage. 2. During the reception the wedding cake is sliced. 3. Throwing rice confetti at the newlyweds will bring them prosperity all their life. 4. The groom must arrive before the bride at the church to avoid bad luck. 5. Dropping the wedding ring, the veil or the arrhae during the ceremony spells unhappiness for the couple. 6. Bride should not try on her wedding dress before the wedding, maybe it will push through. XVII. Native American: 1. From Apache to Cheyenne and Hopi to Sioux, Native American wedding customs are beautiful and vary according to tribe. One custom in particular requires the bride and groom to wash their hands to cleanse away evil and previous lovers. 2. Ceremonies can be held in chapels, historical landmarks, Indian monuments, or reservations. Pow Wow drums provide lively music for the wedding reception festivities. 3. The Blanket Ceremony – This ritual entails using two blue blankets to represent the couple’s past lives. The couple are wrapped in blue blankets and led to a sacred circle of fire. The officiating person or spiritual leader blesses the union and the couple shed the blue blankets and enveloped by relatives in a single white blanket which represents their new life. Under the white blanket, it’s customary that the couples embrace and kiss. The white blanket is usually kept and displayed in the couple’s home. 4. The Native American bride may wear a white dress or a beautiful long leather dress with beading and traditional colors woven into the fabric. The traditional colors of Native Americans include White for east, Blue for south, Yellow for west, and Black for north. 5. The wedding feast consists of ceremonial foods such as white and yellow corn prepared in a delicious corn mush. The white represents the groom and the yellow represents the bride. The two types of corn are mixed to represent the new union.