Wedding Everywhere

PART ONE

By Pauline Star

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 Contents

A Few American Wedding Customs Explained ............................................................ 4

A Few Czech Wedding Traditions ..................................................................................... 5

Ancient Chinese Traditions ................................................................................................. 7

Austrian Weddings A Mixture of Culture and Superstition ..................................... 8

Unity, Attachment and Cascading Coins! ..................................................................... 10

Fun and Frolic in a Jamaican Wedding ......................................................................... 12

Getting Married – The Italian Way! ............................................................................... 13

The Typical Christian Wedding Ceremony ................................................................. 15

Greek Weddings – Both “Big” and “Fat”!...................................................................... 16

Grooms Beware: Mexican Wedding Traditions Are All About Emptying Your
Pockets! ..................................................................................................................................... 18

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 A Few American Wedding Customs Explained

T
he American wedding is not a new concept, but what you probably
didn’t know is what these traditions stand for. Here’s explaining three
common superstitions and practices in the American wedding!

“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” –

The Old portion represents all the married guests in attendance, the “new”
portion represents the couple who will be newly weds and start the journey of
life together. Something Borrowed signifies anything that the bride must
return, for example, her mother’s veil and the “blue” portion is associated with
the bride’s virginity and purity of character. Silver can be anything, such as a
silver coin or piece of jewelry.

Wedding Dress

The White Wedding Dress which is still the norm represents the bride’s purity
and virginity. This is relatively new in origin, because it was only during the
Victorian age that people started wearing white in order to be married! Also,
the groom should not see the bride in all her wedding finery before she is at
the altar and brides must also not see themselves clad in their wedding dress
before D-Day, to prevent anything from posing as an obstacle to the wedding!

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There’s even a superstition or belief regarding the mode of transport! Yep, I’m
talking about the wedding car! If it breaks down, you’re a goner, or rather,
your marriage is!

A Few Czech Wedding Traditions

C
zech weddings are held with much fanfare, fun and frolic. But did you
know that pretty much all of the Czech wedding traditions have their
roots in early Christianity? Consequently, they’re full of significance
and meaning. Here are some Czech Wedding traditions you can try to
incorporate in your wedding:

· Friends of the bride typically plant a tree in her yard and decorate with
colored ribbons and eggshells, making it spectacular. According to
legend, the bride lives as long as the tree!

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 · The marriage procession is led by flower girls, who are usually nieces of
the couple. They sprinkle flower petals along the way in order to attract
the Pagan goddess of fertility.
· The groom’s friends place a rope at the church entrance after the
ceremony. This rope is decorated with flowers, ribbons and…empty
bottles! The groom can only leave the church after he pays them to
remove this obstacle; this is a way of the groom atoning for his “sins of
youth”! We sure know what they’re talking about there!
· At the beginning of a Czrch reception, a plate is broken at the couple’s
feet. They must clear away the mess together. The broken fragments are
believed to bring happiness to the couple and their jointly sweeping
away the mess is a sign that they will cooperate with each other.
There are many more Czech wedding traditions such as the placing of an
infant on the couple’s marriage bed to bless their fertility. The Czech
wedding rituals and traditions are a mixture of pagan, Christian and
regional traditions, so if you have a Czech ancestor, then do consider
getting married the traditional way.

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 Ancient Chinese Traditions

T
he Chinese wedding traditions and customs are 2,400 years old! Yep!
That old and I’m not kidding! Traditional Chinese weddings had
strong Taoist influences, but contemporary Chinese weddings are
considerably different from their ancient counterparts.

The Days Leading Up to the Wedding

The Chinese believe in arranged marriages. It is customary for the groom’s

family to seek out a suitable bride. After they found a suitable girl, the
marriage was arranged. This involves elaborate formalities, but it’s the
preparations for the actual wedding which are extremely interesting.

After an auspicious date is chosen, the marriage bed is set up, by a man and a
woman considered “lucky”. The bride’s family is also supposed to send a
variety of valuable presents –jewelry, ornaments or kitchen utensils- to the
groom. These arrive a few days prior to D-Day! The night before the wedding,
both the bride and the groom need to find “lucky” people again, to comb their
hair four times. This ritual symbolizes the coming of age of the couple.

The Ceremony
The wedding takes place the next day. Traditionally the groom was meant to

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send a carriage (laden with gifts!) over to the bride’s to bring the bride home.
Now I’m guessing it’s a swanky car these days, but you get the idea!

The bride is carried on the back of one of the groom’s spokeswomen as she
leaves her house. This is simply because her feet cannot touch the ground
before she reaches the groom’s house. Sometimes, a red umbrella is used to
protect the bride, which symbolizes that the bride is going to bear many
children. The bride then arrives at the groom’s house where the wedding
banquet is held! Pretty interesting, eh?

Austrian Weddings A Mixture of Culture and

Superstition

A
ustrian weddings are elaborate affairs and many customs and
traditions are associated with them. Austrians are very superstitious
people and this is reflected in their wedding traditions and customs.
Here’s a look at the Austrian wedding ceremony procedure.

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 1. The proposal – In the past, the groom would send over his family
members or close friends to the bride’s to intimate him about his
intentions of marriage. If a monk or a pregnant woman was spotted by
the party on the journey, it was considered bad luck.
2. It was also considered bad luck if the groom’s last initial was the same
as the bride’s!
3. The wedding day was then chosen. Traditionally, all Austrian weddings
take place on Saturdays, Fridays were considered unlucky, especially,
Friday the thirteenth!
4. Here’s a quirky one, the bride is not supposed to wear her entire
wedding dress before the actual ceremony takes place, so modern
brides leave a stitch or two undone before the ceremony!
5. The veil provides the bride with protections from the evil eye.
6. Flowers are chosen carefully and red and white colors are avoided since
they stand for blood and bandages, so no roses for these brides!
7. Before the bride leaves to get married, one last look in the mirror brings
her good luck; however, returning back to check her appearance once
she’s already started out brings bad luck to the bride. Spiders, chimney
sweeps, black cats and rainbows, if spotted on the way to the wedding
are sure to bring the bride luck! Bad weather, cloudy skies and storms
are indications of a bad or tumultuous relationship!

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 Getting married the Austrian way is pretty tricky business because a lot of
the ceremony is controlled by the spotting of good and bad omens, but on
the whole, it’s an awesome experience!

Unity, Attachment and Cascading Coins!

F
ilipino weddings are all about a rich culture celebrating the union of
two people who are about to embark on the most important journey of
life – the journey of love. Also known as “kasalan”, this wedding
ceremony is as unique as it is beautiful. The bride, clad in virginal white and
the groom attired handsomely in a Barong, which is a traditional woven shirt,
meet at the aisle.

The Ceremony

Sponsors – consisting of couples from the two sides – play an active role in
this ceremony. During a specific point of the ceremony, known as Sanctus, the

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sponsors pin a veil carefully to the bride’s forehead and attach it to the
grooms shoulder. The veil is a symbol of unity.

Next comes the cord ceremony, where the second set of sponsors twine a cord
around the couple roughly in the shape of a figure “8”. This, as you may have
already guessed, symbolizes ties that bind. Then come the cascading coins.
The bride places her hands below the groom’s and the pastor trickles 13 coins
from the grooms palm to the bride’s. This is a sign of fidelity and lifelong
faithfulness to one another.

This is followed by the wedding reception which is a hearty celebration of life

and love. Traditional Filipino weddings reflect the strong familial ties which
are so much a part of Filipino society, even today!

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 Fun and Frolic in a Jamaican Wedding

J
amaica – the land of sand, sun and beautiful people! Who wouldn’t want
to get married in Jamaica, it’s absolutely perfect for a beach wedding!
Moreover, it does not too hard to get married the Jamaican way because,
believe it or not, their weddings are modeled on the American ceremony!
Moreover, to make things more convenient, it’s the bride and the groom who
handle most of the wedding arrangements so that everything is according to
their liking!

Traditions of Times Past

Though now things have changed with the times, traditionally, the entire
village was invited to the wedding and preparations were handles by the
family members of the couple. On the wedding day, several homemade cakes
which served as “the wedding cakes” were carried through the village by a
procession of married ladies clad in white. It was a pretty serious affair and no
one spoke during this ceremony.

Before the wedding ceremony itself, ring games were played and constant
feasting was carried out! They sure knew how to celebrate life don’t they?
This went on till dawn, after which everyone would pray for the couple and
then go off to get ready for the wedding. Everyone would then proceed to

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church for a wedding ceremony pretty much like ours! Now the difference
between their wedding traditions and ours is almost negligible! So pack your
bags for that beach wedding you’ve been dreaming of!

Getting Married – The Italian Way!

W
hen you think of traditional Italian weddings, what’s the first
thing that comes to your mind? Confetti! Do you know that in
Italy Confetti symbolizes good luck and financial success? Well,
there are loads more to Italian weddings than confetti! So how are Italian
weddings different from American Weddings? Well, for one, the bride, in
traditional weddings is meant to wear a green dress, which symbolizes
fertility and not the white we are accustomed to!

Did You Know…

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Traditionally, on the day of the wedding, a large sized bow was draped across
the Church entrance proudly declaring that a wedding was to take place! Even
now, on the wedding day, the groom is to carry a piece of Iron in his pocket, to
ward off the evil eye and the bride’s veil also serves the same purpose.

Tearing it is a sign of good luck.

After the Catholic ceremony is over, it is customary for the newlyweds to

break a wine glass or a vase together, the broken pieces of which are counted
to symbolize the duration of the union.

Now the confetti! As the couple makes their exit, guests shower rice grains,
paper confetti, nuts, grains and sugar coated almonds on them placed in little
sacs. The later is believed to enhance conception. As the couple makes their
exit, a pair of doves is also released. The story behind this tradition? Well,
doves are believed to represent love and happiness. Italian weddings are
lively and full of tradition; few weddings are as romantic as Italian Weddings!

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 The Typical Christian Wedding Ceremony

G
etting married is often the biggest decision in a person’s life and is a
monumental event, unless you decide to get drunk and get married
in Vegas! It’s also important that you do it the right way because it is
the event of a lifetime (hopefully)!

The Christian wedding ceremony is as old as time itself. In fact, it’s been there
pretty much as long as Christianity, one of the oldest religions in the world has
been around.

Procedure

Before the guests arrive in church, candles are lit to show the presence of God.
The wedding ceremony itself is quite complex. The groom, groomsmen and
the minister enter the stage at the altar, from the right. The bride and her
father/guardian then prepare themselves for the wedding walk; they are
preceded by the flower girls and the Maid of Honor. The mother of the Bride
stands and the entire congregation follows suit.

When the minister announces “The Call to Worship”, everyone is seated once
again and the wedding begins with the giving away of the bride. A hymn
follows and the flower girls and rings bearer, having done their duty move

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away and sit with their parents. The wedding vows are them exchanged, along
with the rings and this is followed by the closing prayer. The “kissing” follows
and the minister then introduces everyone present to the newlyweds.

Greek Weddings – Both “Big” and “Fat”!

E
ver watched the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”? Well, they’re not
lying over there when they describe the traditional wedding as “big”
and “fat”! A typical Greek wedding has a minimum of at least 100
guests! Moreover, their wedding traditions have continued unchanged since
ancient times. So for the Greeks, their wedding traditions probably connect
them with their ancestors.

Customs

So what happens in a traditional Greek wedding? The nervous groom waits for
the bride outside the church, along with the guests. After the bride arrives, the
ceremony begins. Greek Weddings can be divided into two distinct phases –

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The Service of Betrothal, where the Bride and Groom Exchange rings, with the
priests’ blessing. The religious sponsor of the couple known as the Koumbaro
swaps the betrothal rings thrice between the couple- and the Ceremony of the
Sacrament of Marriage, where the actual wedding ceremony takes place with
the priest leading many prayers.

The couple is then crowned with traditional flowered crowns, called “stefana”.
The Koumbaro then exchanges these crowns thrice. This symbolizes the
couple being blessed by God. Following this, the priest reads from the Gospel
the story of Jesus’ first miracle at the marriage of Cana at Galilee. The priest
then gives a cup of wine to the couple from which they each drink thrice.

Last, but not the least. The crowned couple follows the priest around the altar,
“Koumbaro” in tow, thrice; this is known as the Ceremonial Walk and is
symbolic of their first steps as a married couple. Thereafter, they’re pelted
with rice, which can at times get…err a bit out of hand! Full of traditions and
symbolism, Greek wedding customs are some of the most ancient in the
world! Do things differently, get married the Greek way!

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 Grooms Beware: Mexican Wedding Traditions
Are All About Emptying Your Pockets!

T
hink Mexico and you think of Salma Hayek! If you’re a fan, how about
paying a tribute to her by getting married the Mexican way? Though
I’m not too sure how well that’ll go down with the bride!
How They’re Different

Traditionally, in Mexico, the wedding is sponsored by the couple’s godparents.

They serve as mentors and confidantes of the bride and groom during and
even after their wedding. Moreover, such is their importance in the wedding;
the couple honors them during the programs! Kind of like the parents lose out
though!

In Mexico, as the marriage vows are being recited, a rosary or a white ribbon,
known as the lasso is loosely wrapped around the couple’s necks, symbolizing
unity. Also, the groom must give his bride a present of (hold your breath!)
thirteen gold coins! So he must be a rich man! All this just to prove that he’s
going to support his wife throughout their married life!

After the ceremony, when the two leave the church, guests toss red beads at
them to bring them luck. Moreover, at the wedding reception, everyone

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present join hands to form a heart around the couple as they share their first
dance! I’m sure you’re going “aww” by now! But that’s just the effect weddings
have on you! Mexican weddings are no different! But if you’re a Mexican
groom, do ensure that you’re saving up to purchase those gold coins, right
from childhood! It’s going to be tough otherwise!

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 Hi, this is Pauline Star. I am an experienced wedding planner,
working successfully in the wedding industry for last 8 years.

Wedding is not just an event, but to my belief, wedding is the

bridge between two souls, cultures, and families.

So, when you plan to give your wedding the best shape, you must need the
support of an expert wedding planner, who can take the best care of the most
sensitive event of your life and to feel you proud about your wedding every
time you walk down the memory lane.

With my experience and extended client base, I have decided to setup my very
own online base at www.globalweddinggifts.com, so that I can focus to my
online readers as well.
Just now you read 'Wedding Everywhere' Part 1. Presently, I am working on
'Wedding Everywhere' Part 2. In fact, there are many other wedding
projects, gifts I am currently working and soon they will be published online
exclusively for you.
So if you have enjoyed reading 'Wedding Everywhere' Part 1 and would like
to read 'Wedding Everywhere' Part 2 and would like to stay in touch with
Pauline Star for more gifts, please drop a mail at the following address
paulinestarwedding@gmail.com

Stay in touch. Good luck.

~~~End of Wedding Everywhere (Part One)~~~

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