Cultural Weddings

A cool tidbit of information from my grandfather.

Ever wonder why the wedding couples car so often gets jokingly vandalized? It used to be that couples got an even more unwelcome acceptance into married life. A chivaree was when the couple’s friends got together and surrounded the couple’s residence on their wedding night banging pots and pans, sometimes including musicians and generally just being a disturbance until they couldn’t keep it up anymore therefore delaying any “alone” time the newlyweds  may have wanted.  Sometimes they would even come inside and sit with the couple just talking or eating but staying late into the night.  That’s why people started “decorating” cars and the like, its reminiscent of a chivaree though more tame and frankly, more polite.  I can’t imagine it would be fun to have to entertain your friends on your wedding night.

What to do about vows?  Many engaged couple’s may struggle with this question. You could go traditional “I take you John to be my lawfully wedded husband…”.  You could involve your parents, Minister: “Who gives this woman away?” Parents: “We do”.  You could even write you own vows, a promise to you future spouse originally and purely from you.  If you want more vow ideas you can go here.

In Persian/Iranian weddings, they have a many timeless traditions, one of them being the “Aayeneh-ye Bakht” or the mirror (of fate).  It supposedly represents the bride and grooms future together.  The bride enters the room wearing a veil and sits next to the groom where she then removes the veil and the groom is supposed to look into the mirror where he sees his fiance (his future).

To read more about Persian/Iranian weddings you can click here

In a traditional Hindu Indian Wedding the groom has a chance to make a grand entrance. He gets all of his friends and family together and with them following behind he rides to the his wedding venue on a decorated (potentially white) horse.

Its every little girls dream, their very own prince charming.

The custom has changed a bit over the years, its not very common for a modern groom to be caught on a horse. Today they will probably travel by a decorated limousine or some other luxury car. I can see how in today’s society a horse might be a more eccentric statement than your average person wants to make.

In Japan there is a wedding tradition called “San-San-Ku” which is a wedding between the groom and the bride and means three times three equals nine. Its a very special tradition that signifies the bond between the couple. Both the bride and the groom have three cups and they each fill them up with sake. When filling the cups up they will pass over each cup twice before actually filling it with sake the third time.They will then take three sips from each cup and then when they are done they have to put the cups down at the exact same time, its thought that the one who puts their cup down last will be the one to die first.

Here is what happens when I’m looking for things to write about while hungry.  I skim over something about attire, knowing that usually I’d find it very interesting.  I read something about a matchmaker which would generally make me happy that I live in modern day America.  And then I get to food.  I don’t know how you feel about Korean food, but I’m a big fan.

In Korea your traditional wedding dinner consists of this: Bulgolgi, or marinated strips of beef.  Kalbi, or marinated short ribs.  Kimchee, or pickled cabbage along with various dipping sauces.  There is white rice and kimpap (rice, egg, spinach and various other vegetables rolled in seaweed).  There is Mandu which is a dumpling  that can be filled with cabbage, meat spinach, carrots, garlic,  onions  or  various other vegetables.  There can be soup, one kind of soup is Twoenjang guk, made with soybean paste and clams.  They can have steamed rice cakes, and for desert there are fruits and pastries.

If none of that sounded as appetizing to you as it did to me, there is always chicken or beef, and a nice yellow cake with butter cream frosting.  Right now, both sound wonderful to me.  One suggestion, don’t do the shopping for your wedding dinner menu on an empty stomach.

In Sweden it is typical of the parents of the bride to give her coins to put in her shoes, the idea behind it being that she will never have to go without.

The mother gives her a gold coin before she leaves for the church which she puts in her right shoe. Her father gives her a silver coin to put in her left shoe.

There is a lot of hope that rests on two coins for a daughters future, but it can’t try, right?

With an Irish wedding comes a fair amount of folklore and omens, good and bad. One of the odder signs of good luck, was to be visited by a group of men dressed in straw, the Strawboys.

Strawboys

They were typically young men from the local village or town that covered themselves with straw, generally hid their faces, and had straw hats. Usually they would come into the reception and play some music and perform a dance, often they would steal the bride (and bridesmaids) away for a dance or two. Although they were generally loud and rowdy, they also brought life to the party and if they didn’t come it was considered to be a snub not to mention bad luck.

This tradition has carried over to weddings today, although there is not so much superstition around it. Today you will often find that it is family members who participate. So if your ever at an Irish wedding, be prepared and don’t worry if you happen upon some uninvited guests.

In Greek Orthodox Weddings, after the rings have been exchanged and many prayers have been said, crowns (known as Stefana) are placed onto the heads of the bride and groom. These crowns are symbols of the glory and honor that is being placed onto the couple by god. The ribbon, that is wrapped around each of the crowns, symbolizes their unity. The Koumbaro (the groom’s best man) then exchanges the crown between the heads three times, uniting and binding them together.

In China the color red signifies luck. It is the color of good health and happiness. It is supposed to ward of evil spirits and promote peace and prosperity. So, on the one day when you want everything to be absolutely perfect, what other color would you want your wedding dress to be?

Traditionally in China wedding dresses are red, come in two pieces, and they are often adorned with a silver or gold dragon. They may also have a phoenix on them.