Wild Wedding Customs

Cookie-cutter weddings are a thing of the past. Today’s bride is daring to be different, in hopes of having a wedding to remember. We wanted to reach for the stars and went beyond the Pinterest boards to find rituals from around the world.  Try a few of these wild wedding customs on for size, and ensure a celebration that your guests won’t soon forget… If you can dare to go there.

1. Blackening the Bride:  A pre-marital tradition imposed on many Scottish brides includes tying her to a tree, where she will have to endure her nearest and dearest throwing at and covering her in the grossest goo they can get their hands on. Tradition states that a bride who can handle this can handle anything, even marriage.
2. When women in India are born under a specific astrological sign, they are called Mangliks and considered cursed. The curse affects their husband, leading to his early demise. The only way it can be broken is for the bride to first marry a tree that can then be destroyed before she can live her happily ever after with the man of her dreams.
3. Whereas we thought it was daunting enough for a man to ask his betrothed’s father for her hand, in Fiji, the stakes are higher. They also have to present their future father-in-law with a whales tooth, as a sign of his commitment.
4. For those looking to channel a Kenyan tradition, it is customary for the bride’s father to bless the couple by spitting on her head and chest before she leaves with her new husband.
5. Swedish weddings are full of affection. Tradition states here, that whenever a bride or groom leave their table to use the restroom, the one left gets smothered in kisses from the guests.
6. Irish tradition dictates that a bride’s feet must always be on the ground when she is dancing, lest evil fairies will come and sweep her away.
7. See how your guests react when you ask them to channel French Polynesian culture.  With this custom, all the bride’s relatives will lay side-by-side and face down, while the bride and groom walk across this human rug!
8. For those with a strong German heritage, it is customary to ask guests to bring new dishes to the wedding…That they will then smash, to ward off evil spirits.
9. Some African villages still instill the practice of having a village elder (or the bride’s mother) stay with the couple the first night of their marriage to “show them the ropes.” Now, that might be a little too close for comfort!