Tying the knot is one of the most exciting and important events in anyone’s life.
Marriage, after all, is an ultimate expression of devotion to your partner and with the pageantry
of ceremony, getting hitched is definitely something worth remembering.
In most western countries getting married is as easy as finding someone to officiate
the ceremony as well as finding a good caterer to make sure that your guests are fed to their
heart’s content.
However, in many other countries, the ritual of marriage has multiple layers leading up
to the big day itself.
As with customs and traditions around the world go, there is no shortage of strange
ones that many of us might cringe at or even be shocked by.
These wedding traditions, however, have been put into practice for hundreds if not thousands
of years by their respective cultures to symbolically strengthen the bond between spouses and bring
luck to their future together.
So in this list, we are counting down to 10 wedding traditions around the world that we
may find strange and bizarre but are nonetheless spectacular and, to say the least, romantic.
10.
BRIDENAPPING (KYRGYZSTAN) Throughout the centuries kidnapping women
to take home as a bride was a common practice among ancient civilizations; from ancient
China to the Romans, “bridenapping” is one secure way of making sure that political
alliances are forged and lineages are preserved and continue on.
Called “Kyz ala Kachuu”, or “take a young woman and run away”, this custom still
exists among certain communities in Kyrgyzstan and the Romani where the man abducts the woman
he wishes to marry while accompanied by friends or his male relatives.
He then takes the woman to his home where she is kept in a room until the man’s female
relatives convince her to wear a specific kind of scarf for the occasion that would
signify her acceptance and consent to the marriage.
9.
BEATING THE GROOM’S FEET (SOUTH KOREA) One of Korea’s long standing wedding traditions,
the beating of the groom’s feet happen at the end of the wedding ceremony.
The groom is taken by his friends who bind his feet in rope or sash.
His footwear is removed and the men around him begin to beat the soles of his feet with
a stick or a fish called Yellow Corvina.
The belief is that by continuously beating the groom’s feet, his friends are preparing
him before he consummates his marriage with his wife by making him stronger.
These days, the ritual is less ceremonial than it is a wholesome activity – but is
still an integral part in the Korean custom of marriage - where friends and relatives
ask the groom questions and trivia while his feet are bound and lightly tapped with a stick.
8.
SPITTING ON THE BRIDE (KENYA) The Massai nation of Kenya has one of the
most bizarre wedding rituals that is still practiced today.
As part of the wedding ceremony, the bride is asked to shave her head and lamb fat and
oil is applied on her scalp; after which, the father of the bride blesses her by spitting
on her head and breasts.
In western culture, spitting is a sign of disgrace and disgust.
However, the belief of the Massai people is that it brings good fortune to the newlyweds.
The bride, according to custom, must not look back as she leaves with her husband for fear
that she might turn to stone.
The husband is also forbidden to stay in the home of the bride for the next two days.
At the end of this seemingly long ritual, the mother-in-law shaves her head thus commencing
the wedding ceremony itself to bind the man and woman in matrimony.
7.
KISSING THE BRIDE AND GROOM (SWEDEN) In almost all wedding traditions, the kiss
is exclusively reserved for just the bride and the groom at the end of the ceremony.
In Sweden, however, the kiss may not be as exclusive as you may think.
Seemingly unique to the Swedish culture, when the groom leaves the room for any reason,
all unmarried men are allowed to approach the bride and kiss her.
The same goes for the groom; when the bride exits the room to, say, freshen up, all unmarried
women present at the wedding is allowed by tradition to kiss the groom.
So the next time you’re invited to a wedding in Sweden, keep this in mind!
6.
FAT FARMS (MAURITANIA) While many women in the west try to avoid
calories before their big day, the women of Mauritania adhere to a wedding custom that
encourages them to so-called “fat farms”.
Between the ages of five and fifteen, young women are encouraged to put on some weight
before their wedding day to the point of almost being overweight.
It is the belief of the people of Mauritania that if a bride has a significant amount of
weight, then it follows that her husband was wealthy enough to keep her happy and satisfied.
It is also strongly believed by Mauritians that if a bride was heavy then her marriage
will be filled with good luck and prosperity.
Unfortunately, many fathers of the bride abuse this custom oftentimes force-feeding their
daughters to the point that they begin to develop health problems.
5.
THE WALL OF BRIDESMAIDS (CHINA) In China, in order for a groom to get to his
bride, he must first prove his devotion to his bride by trying to breakthrough a blockade
of bridesmaids.
Before he could walk his wife-to-be down the aisle, he must first complete whatever task
the bridesmaids will ask of him.
The tasks range from a variety of things from questions about the bride to outright asking
money form the groom.
This tests the hardiness and conviction of the groom to marry the bride.
After all, once you have broken through a horde of bridesmaids, it’s smooth sailing
from that point on.
4.
THE COURTING HUT (SOUTH AFRICA)
Native South Africans have an interesting way of allowing the spouses-to-be to get to
know each other.
Certain tribes allow their women to enter what they call a “courting hut” where
the bride-to-be may entertain potential spouses in privacy and away from the prying eyes of
her friends, family, and neighbours.
It is not at all a bad idea since this gives both sides an opportunity to get to know each
other without the added distraction of the outside world.
3.
CRYING RITUAL (CHINA) One of the strangest wedding traditions that
are still practiced today is by the Tujia people of China.
Wedding preparations begin as early as 30 days before the big day and it starts with
the bride spending an hour of each day crying.
After 10 days of weeping in solitude, she is joined by her mother and, 10 days after
that, her grandmother.
This continues until all the female members of the family are in tears for an hour every
day until the big day.
Though this may seem like an act of sadness, the Tujia women weep more for joy for the
bride and this new chapter in her life.
It is also believed that with the chorus of weeping and the different tones of voices
unique to each individual, the crying would sound like a song to the family.
2.
TREE MARRYING (INDIA) In India, it is believed that women born under
a certain astrological period are cursed.
Should these women decide to marry, they bear the consequence of being widowed every time
until the curse is lifted.
In order to counteract it, these women would first marry a tree – believing that the
tree will absorb the curse – and, once the ceremony is done, it would be cut down leaving
their “human wives” free from the bondage of their curse.
1.
THE MATRIMONIAL INK (ARABIA, AFRICA, INDIA) In the Arabic, African, and Indian cultures
around the world the tradition of getting ornate henna tattoos is a custom that dates
back thousands of years.
While it is not entirely bizarre, it certainly is one of the most beautiful customs to be
practiced even to this day.
In western cultures such as the Americas and Europe, women take great pains to prepare
and make sure that they look stunning on their wedding day, sometimes hiring an entire army
of hairdressers and makeup artists.
The custom of henna tattoos, however, is so simple
Brides-to-be would get henna tattoos before their wedding day as a symbol of their elegance
as well as an artistic expression of their beauty.