Western Ceremony Customs

Marriages are a widespread celebration of love and cohesion, but every location, land, and community has its own distinct traditions that add to the total practice. For instance, in Southern Italy as friends depart from the ceremony and reception they side the brides packets filled with cash– a gesture known as the bomboniere. This is meant to help the couple get off to a great start in their new life together https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine.

On the flip side, a fun tradition found in Romania is bride- napping. Days before the big day, friends and family work together to kidnap the bride and whisk her off to an undisclosed location where they then demand a ransom. Typical requests include a few bottles of alcohol or beer.

After the ceremony, it’s also common for Norwegian couples to serve a towering special- occasion cake called a kransekake. This is made of iced almond cake rings in a cone shape, often with a bottle of wine placed in the center. This is meant to symbolize the couple’s future wealth and prosperity.

In Poland https://confettiskies.com/blog/hot-french-women, a bride and groom will have bread and salt blessed by their guests before they walk down the aisle. This ritual is intended to remind the couple of what’s important in life, even when the going gets tough.

The French have their own traditional way of showing their love for the happy couple – with wine. During the toasting process, a coupe de mariage ( or wedding chalice ) is passed around for everyone to place a piece of toast into. This is where the term” to toast” comes from!