5 Wedding Traditions from Around the World

Wedding season has officially started, as couples across the United States walk down the aisle to tie the knot. weddings take place in the summer months, down from 41 percent in 2010. And while you may know of many American wedding traditions - from the bride throwing the bouquet and the bride's father walking her down the aisle to music and merriment after the vows - cultures around the world have their own, perhaps lesser known, traditions. [Infographic: Marriage Divorce Statistics]

Here are some wedding rituals from around the world that go beyond the white dress and veil.

1. Wardrobe Change: In modern China, brides pick not one wedding dress, but three. First, there's the traditional qipao or cheongsam, an embroidered, slim-fitting frock that's usually made red for weddings, because red is a strong, lucky color in Chinese culture. Next, the bride might swap into a white poufed ball gown that wouldn't look out of place at an American wedding - a bridal nod to the popularity of Western trends. Finally, the bride ducks out of the reception to change into a third dress, this one a gown of her color choice or a cocktail dress.

2. Painted Hands: Before an Indian bride gets married, she and her female friends and family decorate their hands and feet with elaborate designs called menhdi. These temporary designs are made from the plant dye henna, and they last just a few weeks. The menhdi designs are incredibly intricate and take hours to apply, not including the time the bride must wait for the henna paste to dry and stain her skin. Turning the occasion into a "mehndi party" makes the process more fun - and provides some friends and family to help the bride out if she needs anything while she's being adorned.

3. Mazel Tov! The breaking of the glass in Jewish weddings, in which the groom crushes a glass under his foot at the end of the ceremony, is a tradition with murky roots. 70, while others say that the broken glass is a reminder that joy should always be tempered. Either way, breaking the glass is usually undertaken in the spirit of happiness today, with wedding guests calling out "mazel tov!" (good luck!) after the glass shatters. [6 Scientific Tips for a Successful Marriage]

4. Ransom for the Bride: Russian grooms have to work for their brides. Before the wedding, the groom shows up at the bride's home and asks for his beloved. In jest, her friends and family refuse him until he pays up in gifts, money, jewelry or simple humiliation. Grooms are forced to do silly dances, answer riddles, and perform goofy tests of worthiness like diapering a baby doll. Once the groom impresses friends and family with this bridal ransom, or "vykup nevesty," he's allowed to meet his bride-to-be.

5. Random for the Shoes: While Russian grooms are ransoming their brides, Pakistani men have to pay up if they want to keep their shoes. After a Pakistani wedding, the couple returns home for a ceremony called the "showing of the face." Family and friends hold a green shawl over the couple's heads and a mirror as the bride removes the veil she wears throughout the wedding ceremony. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Bridal Dress Inspirations from Around the World

If you want a truly unique bridal dress on your wedding day, you can look for inspirations from the wedding attire of different cultures You can veer away from the traditional white gown, the trendy strapless bodice, the long veil, and the seed pearls and embroidery of your peers'' wedding gowns

If you want a truly unique bridal dress on your wedding day, you can look for inspirations from the wedding attire of different cultures. You can veer away from the traditional white gown, the trendy strapless bodice, the long veil, and the seed pearls and embroidery of your peers'' wedding gowns. Of course, you will need a certain unorthodox spirit to carry out your inspired bridal dress plus a husband who will cater to your whims. If he is of the culture you borrowed your inspiration from, then better for you!

You have seen a sari worn by Indian beauty queens like Aishwarya Rai. You cannot deny how these flowing garments emphasize feminine grace and attributes while leaving plenty to the imagination. Add in colorful threads and embellishments and you have one head-turning dress!

For Indian weddings, the traditional colors are red and white that symbolizes fertility, wealth and purity. Instead of an all-white bridal dress, you can inject touches of red - a ribbon or hem embroidery perhaps. If you want to take it one step further, you can design a sari-inspired wedding gown. You would have dispensed of stiff petticoats and restraining corsets and just be comfortable during the wedding ceremony and the reception.

The traditional Irish bridal dress is blue, which symbolizes purity. Lest you think that it should be green since it is the color of Ireland, it is actually considered bad luck for the bride to wear green. (Thus, if invited to an Irish wedding, avoid wearing green, too)

You can wear a blue-hued Vintage Trouwjurk dress, if you want. Better yet, you can always use the finest Irish lace in your wedding gown. Not only do you go haute couture, you also have an exquisite dress on your wedding day!

Fortunately for you, The Scottish bridal dress is traditionally white or cream. However, you can add touches of tartan to your dress - tartan ribbons on your bouquet, tartan trimmings, tartan shawl, or a tartan waist sash. This livens up an otherwise all-white ensemble with tradition particularly when your family or that of your husband''s has Scottish origins.

Or if you do not want a tartan, you can always have Celtic knot work embroidered on your wedding gown to symbolize eternal love. At the very least, you have ancient patterns with meanings instead of the customary flowers and leaves.

If you are of Hispanic heritage, the split voor Prom Dresses tradition about wearing something borrowed takes on a different meaning. Your wedding dress might very well be the wedding dress of your mother and your grandmother, with a few revisions to suit your bodily measurements. This reflects your pride of family, a trait highly valued in Hispanic societies.

The Spanish traditional wedding gown represents a radical departure from the customary white of Western weddings. The Spanish bride wears a black gown and a lacy mantilla veil to symbolize her devotion to her husband until death. If you choose a Spanish-influenced gown vis-?-vis color, you do not need to despair. You can sew in ribbons of yellow, blue and red into your lingerie or infuse touches of these colors into your gown.

Of course, when you do choose a foreign influence as inspiration for your bridal dress, do not make vloer-length avondjurken the mistake of turning it into a hodgepodge of clashing ideas. Syndicate this article. More free articles for syndication

Publication:Ethnic, cultural, racial issues communityGeographic Code:1USA

Date:Sep 27, 2008

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