20 Uncommon Wedding Ceremonies From All Over The World

If you ever make it to an Indonesian wedding, the first thing you’ll notice is gold. Heaps and heaps of the stuff. You should probably wear shades to avoid being blinded by the bling. The bride is likely to be wearing a headdress dripping with the yellow metal. Meanwhile, the groom will play his part in the spectacle by wearing an extraordinary amount of gold jewelry. 

In most of the world’s nations, it’s a firm tradition that the man proposes marriage, sometimes on bended knee, to the woman. But the Minang people of the Indonesian island of West Sumatra have their own way of doing things. In their culture it’s customary for the woman to pop the question. Not only is that unusual worldwide, it’s even unique in Indonesia. 

In Germany, brides go for truly eye-popping headdresses. In fact they’re so creatively elaborate that you can really call them works of art. Different regions have different styles: in the Black Valley, it’s all glass baubles and colored beads. In Buckenburg on the other hand, women choose magnificent collections of blooms for a stunning floral display on their big day.

Another tradition in Germany is Baumstamm Sägen. A baumstamm is a tree trunk and sägen means to cut with a saw. Yes, when a couple get hitched in Germany one of the first things they do after the ceremony is to reach for their chainsaws. Then they cut a few logs together. Apparently this is meant to symbolize the type of partnership working that will make for a strong marriage. Plus they’ll have a ready supply of firewood.

Many cultures have a strong emphasis on the importance of a stunning wedding gown for the bride. But in India they take the wedding dress to a whole new level. A traditional gown will incorporate as many as 16 different layers of fabric, each one individually adorned with intricate decoration. Dresses, or saris as they’re called, are usually red, a color which references the sun as it rises.

Like many cultures, Indians are keen on astrology. There are even special names denoting the positions of the stars when you were born. A Manglik is a woman born when Mars and Venus are in a certain position. Sadly, this is a sign of bad fortune, meaning your husband may meet a premature death. So a Manglik first marries a tree which is then felled to thwart the jinx.

Most Amish women wear a wedding dress that is paired with a white cape and apron. The dress itself is often a hue of purple or blue. After the wedding the gown becomes Sunday best and in a somewhat macabre tradition, it’s also worn as a burial dress. One tradition that few modern brides would be likely to welcome is the self-made gown. Some Amish women actually make their own dresses from scratch.

One tradition observed by many Amish embraces a strange habit of secrecy. In most societies once a couple become engaged they’re happy to broadcast their happy news to the world at large. But an Amish couple will often hide their happiness from all but close family. Only when the actual ceremony is imminent is the wider community let in on the secret engagement.

The Maasai people of Kenya follow a tradition known as kupamba, a wedding party with its own distinct customs. The bride comes to the party wearing a veil. That conceals not only her face but the gorgeous beaded necklace that she wears. Once the celebration gets under way, she removes her veil to reveal the necklace for all to admire. Also exposed is her shaved head, a ritual haircut that symbolizes her new start in life.

In Western culture spitting is generally seen as a bad and undesirable habit. But illustrating the variety of human beliefs, the Maasai actually regard spitting as a sign of respect, as well as good fortune. That is translated into what might seem a very strange marriage custom. A father will spit on the head of his daughter when her time comes to leave the family home and join her new husband. 

The city of Ribnovo is home to people known as Pomaks: Bulgarian Muslims. If you visit this town in the country’s Rhodope Mountains you might be lucky enough to see an extraordinary spectacle if there happens to be a wedding under way. The tradition of gelena involves some of the most unusual bridal wedding make-up you’re ever likely to see. 

To celebrate their marriage, brides in Ribnovo have their faces covered in a thick white paste that gives them a spectral air. But these are colorful ghosts, since the white pancake makeup is adorned with brightly colored sequins. The extraordinary cosmetics are applied in a ceremony which only female in-laws can attend. The bride sports a red veil covered in strands of shiny tinsel to complete the look.

Folks in Morocco really love a wedding — you can see that from the fact that the party goes on for as long as a week. In fact, the event starts even before the formal celebration. The bride and groom exchange vows at an occasion called the drib sadak attended only by close family and friends. Then there are two separate parties — one for the groom’s family and one for the bride’s.

Next comes the major wedding celebration attended by both families and loads of friends. Tradition holds that this party should be held at the bride’s home, and the groom and his family are expected to arrive with lavish presents for the bride. Another aspect of the celebrations is the henna party. That’s for the women only and involves the bride and others having elaborate tracery painted onto their hands and feet using reddish-brown henna dye.

In Tonga they do things their own way: courtship and marriage involve a highly formalized series of steps. Step one, known as fai kaume, is a gentle start to romance and involves nothing more than friendship. During this stage it’s down to the man to convince the woman that he’s a worthy candidate for the next step — dating. This only proceeds with the express permission of the woman’s parents.

After dating comes another momentous event, likely to make any man a nervous wreck. Because he now has to ask his date’s parents for another permission. This time he asks to be allowed to marry their daughter. If that goes well the couple can move on to a pre-wedding party, a joyous celebration that can last for three days. Then at last comes the actual wedding. Phew!

A key part of the Peruvian wedding tradition is the garment worn by the bride. It’s the pollera, a highly colored, handmade skirt using specially woven fabric and featuring geometric motifs. The roots of this wedding garb date right back to pre-Columbian times, to the era of the Incan civilization. The groom wears a special headdress which also harks back to the days of the Incas.  

The Peruvians have a charming tradition at the wedding party, the cintas de la torta which translates as “cake pull.” It’s a variation of the Western tradition of throwing the bride’s bouquet in the air, with the catcher supposedly the next in line for marriage. In Peru, a ribbon is inserted into the cake with a ring attached to it. Guests take turns at giving the ring a tug. Whoever frees it will be the next to wed. 

Modern Greek weddings mix the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church with rites that are much older, dating as far back as pre-Christian times. One example of an ancient tradition that’s still followed by some involves sugar. The bride’s family puts a piece of sugar into the bride’s glove. That’s said to guarantee that the newly-married woman will have a sweet life. 

Then there’s a strange habit of secreting a gold coin inside the bride’s shoe, said to bring good fortune. The metallic theme continues with a tradition aimed at the groom. He’s given a lump of iron to stick in his pocket, another way to ensure good luck. Finally, there’s a Greek Orthodox tradition that involves the priest putting crowns joined by a ribbon on the couple’s heads. That symbolizes their new married union.

In almost every culture marriage is a merry occasion calculated to bring joy to the happy couple and their friends and families. That may well be true in South Korea, but for the groom there’s a ritual that happens after the wedding ceremony which can only be described as disturbing. South-Korean men have to undergo this bizarre rite after they’ve wed and before they’re allowed to head off with their new wives. 

It’s hard to credit, but the male wedding guests start by taking off the groom’s shoes and tying his ankles together. Then they take turns to beat the soles of the unfortunate groom’s feet with a stick. Sometimes the stick is substituted with a dried fish. Apparently the whole thing is actually conducted with good humor. Perhaps you have to be there to get the joke? 

The Scots tradition of blackening, seen in the north-east of the country and in the Highlands, is a peculiar ritual carried out before a wedding. It actually sounds like something of an ordeal, but it’s generally accompanied by high spirits and lots of hilarity. Friends of the betrothed couple capture them and then pelt them with everything from molasses and feathers to soot and flour.

Once the couple are judged dirty enough, they’re then paraded through the streets of their hometown as onlookers cheer and shout. So why do the Scots in some rural districts subject their friends to this distinctly unpleasant-sounding ritual before they get married? The answer is that it’s supposed to scare off malevolent spirits. We can only hope that it actually works!

At a marriage ceremony, the parents of the couple and perhaps even some close friends can be forgiven for becoming a little misty-eyed. A wedding is after all an emotionally charged event. But when we come to crying in relation to some Chinese weddings, the tears take on an entirely different dimension. For the weeping is not involuntary: it’s compulsory.

The Tujia people, who live in the Chinese provinces of Hubei and Hunan, have a particular thing about marriage and crying. One month before she ties the knot, a bride-to-be is expected to spend an hour of concentrated weeping accompanied by her female relatives. This strange custom is said to date back to a princess from long ago who wept at her wedding.

The French are of course rightly famed for their gourmet cuisine. But this particular dish dubbed la soupe would hardly please the palate of any culinary connoisseur. For a start this concoction is rustled up in a chamber pot, hardly a vessel from which you’d normally choose to eat. And then there’s the traditional ingredients for this dish served to the bride and groom at their wedding do: they’re disgusting!

The recipe for la soupe? Tradition dictates that at the end of the wedding meal all of the leftover food on the guests’ plates and the dregs of drinks in their glasses should be tipped into a chamber pot. Next the contents are vigorously stirred, resulting in a highly unappetizing mush. Then the happy couple must enjoy this evil brew together. This meal supposedly gives the newlyweds extra stamina for their honeymoon.

If you’re getting hitched in Armenia, there’s a certain traditional ritual you need to follow after the wedding ceremony. First, you’ll make your way to the reception which is usually held at the groom’s home. Once you’re in, you grab a china plate and smash it. Hurling it at a wall will do the trick but take care not to hit any of the guests, especially your new in-laws.

Plate safely smashed, the groom’s mother will now serve you a snack of lavash flatbread and honey. No matter how peckish you are, don’t eat the bread. Instead, you should carefully balance the flatbread on your shoulder. At this point you can eat some of the honey. The lavash on your shoulder will chase away demonic spirits and the sweet honey should bring happiness.

Yes it’s different, but “faerie” is the traditional Irish way to spell these little spirits. And on the Emerald Isle these faeries apparently take delight in doing all they can to spoil a wedding. But the ingenious Irish have found ways to foil the faeries’ evil intentions. For example, guests are all given tiny bells which they ring at frequent intervals to scare off the bad faeries.

Bridesmaids have an important role in thwarting the dastardly plans of the faeries to ruin the wedding ceremony. Their role is to protect the bride. They do this by wearing dresses that are just like the bride’s so as to confuse these troublesome faeries by acting as decoys. As well as deterring faeries, guests discourage the general run of malevolent spirits by spilling whiskey on the ground.

At a traditional wedding in the Pacific nation of French Polynesia, the bride and groom and their guests are serenaded by a Tahua, a priest. He makes evocatively echoing sounds by blowing into a giant conch shell. Meanwhile, the happy couple trade flower headdresses and garlands. But on the Polynesian Marquesas Islands they have an extra unique ritual — one that’s something of a surprise.

After the marriage ceremony has ended, the bride’s relatives have an important part to play in the proceedings. They lie on the ground beside one another, face downwards. Then the bride and her new husband walk across the backs of her family. Presumably they do this with enough care to avoid seriously injuring the prostrate relatives. Apparently this rite represents the passage into a new life of married bliss.

Guests invited to a Romanian wedding enter into a sinister conspiracy together. Having laid their plans, they track down the bride-to-be and kidnap her. Then they carry her off to a secret location where she’s held prisoner. The kidnappers make a ransom demand to the groom. Fortunately this is not as bad as it sounds — the entire affair is a carefully stage-managed ritual without any malice at all.

In fact, the ransom demand is generally rather modest. The groom can usually have his bride back in one piece for as little as a few bottles of booze. Still, a more troublesome forfeit is sometimes demanded by the abductors. On occasion, they’ll insist that the groom has to sing a love song in front of the assembled wedding party. Yikes!

Dressing up formally for a wedding — especially your own — is a common enough habit. And grooms in Spain are no exception — they generally wear a smart suit and tie. But that tie is liable to come in for some devastating damage. Because the groom’s pals are highly likely to confiscate his neckwear. Once they have it they cut it up into small pieces. That’s one tie the groom won’t be wearing again!

This sounds like a downright cruel and childish prank. But actually there’s a well-meaning motive behind this apparent act of mindless vandalism. The groom’s friends now mingle with the other guests and “sell” strips of the destroyed tie for cash. And the proceeds of this eccentric fundraiser go straight to the happy couple, thus providing a handy financial fillip for the newlyweds. 

At a Polish wedding reception, the bride is given a glass of wine. If she can down it all without spilling a single drop, that’s regarded as a powerful omen of good fortune. And that luck might well come in handy during another Polish wedding tradition. The band will strike up a jolly polka tune and the guests will form a circle around the blushing bride. Then things get interesting.

The bride is equipped with a special apron. No, she’s not about to start tidying up or serving drinks. Instead the apron is used to collect banknotes that the guests shower on the newlywed. As a reward, each guest gets given a stiff drink. If the bride’s luck holds she accumulates a handsome sum of money. And what better wedding present is there than hard cash?