Weddings conjure up some great emotions and memories. There are all sorts of ceremonies ranging from forest weddings and beach weddings to registry office and your traditional church weddings. So I started thinking about traditions not only from this country but from all over the world and I once I started researching, I was surprised and shocked at the extremeness of some of them. Here are just a few:
I know the build up to a wedding can be an emotional roller coaster but did you know that in a region of China called Tujia, starting one whole month in advance, the bride starts to cry for one hour everyday? If you think this is bad, the mum then joins in ten days later and ten days after that, so does the grandmother!! By the time the wedding is due, every female in the family is crying along with the bride. Let’s hope none of them have swollen eyes for the wedding photos!
Look away now if you have a love for trees…. In India, women born at a certain time of year (when Saturn and Mars are in the 7th house), are thought to be cursed and are believed to cause their future husband an early death. The only way to combat this is for the woman to first marry a tree. This tree is then destroyed and only then is the curse broken!
In France it is traditional for all the friends and family of the newlywed couple to gather outside the newlyweds home on the first night of marriage and make as much noise and be as annoying as possible. They shout, scream and even bring their own pots and pans to bang in order to be as irritating as possible. Not a great start to wedded bliss especially when you are expected to provide snacks and drinks to calm everyone down!
Over in Korea, as soon as the groom is married, his friends and family remove his socks, tie his feet together and beat his feet with fish. This apparently will prepare him or his first night as a married man……perhaps I should look at first night traditions too!?
Whilst most brides go on a fitness mission, or nutritional plan to ensure they look their best in the wedding dress, in Mauritiania, the women are encouraged to go to ‘fat farms’ to put on weight and find a groom. It is true; beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
In order to prepare for the trials and tribulations of marriage, some women in Scotland get ‘blackened’ by their friends and relatives. This sign of affection is displayed by throwing mouldy food, dead fish, curdled milk and any other offensive food item you can think of, into a bucket which is then tipped all over the poor bride to be! Not sure how this will prepare her for marriage, but I hope she has a good shower before the wedding!
Back in China, and in the Yugur culture, grooms shoot their future spouse with three arrows, luckily the heads are removed first, but that’s still got to hurt! Once he has shot her he will collect the arrows and break them, thus ensuring they will love each other forever.
In southern Sudan, members of the Neur tribe believe that a couple’s marriage is not complete until the woman has given birth to 2 children. If this does not happen, the husband is free to seek a divorce.
In the Congo, in order for the marriage to be taken seriously, the bride and groom are not allowed to smile throughout the whole ceremony. Let’s just hope there aren’t many comedians in the Congo!
And finally, I can’t go (you’ll see what I’ve done here in a minute), without letting you know about the Tidong community in Northern Borneo where newlyweds are confined to their home while not emptying their bowels or going for a wee for three days and nights. This apparently is to help them bond! Not sure how close I would want to be to someone after those 3 days!!
Anyway, that is just a few of the more obscure wedding traditions around the world. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I did finding them!