Immigrant & Refugee Women's Program – A St. Louis Community non-profit organization providing education opportunities to immigrant and refugee women

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue is part of many American wedding traditions along with a white gown and veil, cutting the cake, throwing a garter, and the bride and groom's first dance.

What are wedding traditions of other countries around the world?

Africa: In some parts of Africa, a man asks permission to marry a woman, and if the family agrees, he presents her with a little money and a kola nut. The bride opens the nut, shares it with the groom, and sends a piece via messenger to other families to announce the engagement. After the wedding ceremony, guests shower the couple with corn kernels, symbolizing fertility.

Hindu: In some Hindu wedding ceremonies, the groom is responsible for the bride's clothing. But instead of the familiar white gown, Hindu brides wear a sari. When the bride arrives at the ceremony, she wears clothing from her parents; when all is done, she is dressed in clothing her husband has provided.

Bermuda
Bermuda traditions include the bride and groom walking under a moon gate after the ceremony for good luck. The bride and groom have separate wedding cakes. The bride's wedding cake is a tiered fruitcake covered with silver leaf and has a small cedar sapling on top that is replanted after the ceremony to symbolize the growth of the couple's love. Gold leaf tops the groom's cake and represents prosperity.

Germany: For good luck the bride would carry salt and bread in her pocket to ensure bounty; the groom would carry grain for wealth and good fortune.

India: To ward off evil, the groom’s mother would sprinkle flower petals over the couple at the end of the ceremony. A newly married bride, while entering her husband's house (in-law's) for the first time, will first have to knock down a container of uncooked rice, and enter putting forward her right foot first. This is to ensure that she brings good luck to the house.

Ireland: The Claddagh ring, a heart held by two hands with a crown is the Irish bride's wedding ring. The hands reflect faith, the crown honor and the heart love. If the hands are worn pointing out the woman is single, but if the hands are facing out, the woman is wed. The traditional Irish bride might wear a blue wedding dress on her wedding day, believing blue to be a lucky color. English lavender decorates her wedding flowers. It is traditional for the bride to braid her hair, as this is considered a sacred way to keep feminine power and luck.

Japan: To become husband and wife, the couple takes sips of sake, becoming husband and wife after the first sip.

Pakistan: A Pakistani Bride wears red on the day of her wedding because red symbolizes happiness. Another reason why red is also worn is because it is bright. No one else wears red that day except the bride.

Peru: A Peruvian custom is to include wedding charms between the layers of the wedding cake, attached with ribbons. Before the cake is cut and served to the guests, each single woman pulls a string. This works, of course, if you have a small number of single women attending the wedding. (In several of the bridal magazines you will see ads for these charms.) The one who pulls the ribbon with the 'ring' on the end is the next one to marry within a year.

Poland: Remembrance to the bride, friends in the village would weave a crown of rosemary leaves.

Russian : On her wedding day, the bride asks her parents for forgiveness for any offenses she may have caused. Her parents present the bride with bread and salt, in the hopes that she will never want for food. At the reception, champagne glasses are thrown to the floor after the couple is toasted, if the glasses break, they shall have happiness in their marriage. To show their preferences of their first child, the newlyweds tie to the front of their wedding car a doll for a girl and a bear if they would like a boy.

Sweden: Swedish wives wear three wedding rings: for betrothal, for marriage, and for motherhood.

Scottish: The groom wears the kilt of his "Clan", and bagpipe music is played at the entrance and recessional of the bridal party.

Ukraine: In the Ukraine, couples share korovai rather than a cake. Korovai is a sacred wedding bread decorated with symbolic motifs that represent eternity and the joining together of two families.

American Indian: The traditional colors woven into the brides dress point to the four corners of the earth, White for east, Blue for south, Yellow for west and Black for north. The bride and groom wash their hands to symbolically rid themselves of evil and loves from their past. To symbolize their bonding, the couple will share during their ceremony, a meal of corn mush made of both white and yellow corn. The white represents male and yellow female, joined together.

Vietnamese: The groom leads a procession to the brides house, accumulating family and friends along the way. When they arrive, they present the bride with gifts of clothes, jewelry and currency. The groom's mother is the only one that does not join the procession, to show the bride there is no rivalry between them.