The 5 Most Interesting Wedding Traditions From Around The World

The 5 Most Interesting Wedding Traditions From Around The World While the shooting of Cupid’s arrows, a woman riding a white stallion, and a battle between families might conjure images of a Harlequin romance gone awry, in reality those events are little more than the traditional wedding ceremony of the Yugur people. Residing in China’s Gansu province, the Yugur ethnic group puts most Western wedding ceremonies to shame in terms of time and grandeur. Yugur wedding ceremonies typically last for over 48 hours, wherein all of the aforementioned customs take place. Beginning in the home of the woman, the Yugur bride dons a sacred silver, jade, coral and seashell-encrusted headdress and sets off on a white horse toward her future spouse. To the Yugur, the white horse is supposed to symbolize a heavenly white elephant that appears in the annals of Yugur legend. Interesting Wedding Traditions Yugur Couple Source: People Meanwhile, the bride’s relatives make their way to the groom’s home, where they attempt to “trample and destroy” the bridal chamber set up by the groom’s family. Thus a “battle” takes place between the bride and groom’s families, wherein the groom’s relatives are supposed to protect the integrity of the chamber. The scene is more symbolic than it is substantive, as this custom is meant to convey the groom’s capacity to protect his wife. Once the battle is complete, the seasoned couple may now exchange vows before their now peaceful families. To signify the soon-to-be couple’s undying love and fidelity, the Yugur bridegroom will shoot three supposedly auspicious arrows (sans arrowheads, of course) during the ceremony. Thus the deal has been sealed and it is now time to engage in matrimonial debauchery. Interesting Wedding Traditions: Blackening of the Bride Interesting Wedding Traditions Blackening Bride Source: Flickr In a country known for its rugged landscape and people, it seems somewhat fitting that pre-wedding traditions in Scotland occasionally includes covering the soon-to-be tied couple in molasses, mud and various sauces. Interesting Wedding Traditions Blackening Couple Source: WordPress Approaching the solemnity of the traditional wedding ceremony with a much-needed sense of humor, friends of the couple gather all of the gunk they have at their disposal and dump it all over their bodies. Immediately after, the two are tied to a tree or paraded down the streets in all of their goop-filled glory by their friends, where it is announced by their friends that the dank duo is about to be bound in holy matrimony. Interesting Wedding Traditions Blackening Groom Source: Flickr To Scots, a dose of good-natured humiliation serves as a healthy tonic to the self-importance many attach to a wedding ceremony, as well as a reminder of the undesirable muck that the couple will inevitably sift through together following their lily-white betrothal. Interesting Wedding Traditions: Charivari Interesting Wedding Traditions Charivari Source: Rocking Facts While the ruckus and clamor of France’s charivari ritual is now evocative of general post-wedding merriment, in the past it served as a not-so subtle way for families to tell their children to stop messing around in the sheets and tie the knot. Interesting Wedding Traditions Charivari Cartoon Source: Lindipendenza Though many today associate France with general sexual liberation, the existence of charivari belies that stereotype. Beginning in the Middle Ages, disapproving denizens of a French community would march to the homes of individuals in the midst of unnatural or unsavory relations and convey their ill will by pounding on pots, pans or whatever other noise-making device they had at their disposal. Charivari recipients often included those who had recently remarried, questionable relations between an old widower and a much younger woman, those engaged in adultery and unmarried mothers. Interesting Wedding Traditions Charivari Modern Source: Menton Daily Photo Perhaps one of the earliest forms of horizontal bullying, it was often women who led the march to the homes of the sexual hedonists and sought to eradicate and ostracize the socially unacceptable from the community. The thought at the time was that these unsavory social structures threatened the security of the whole. Today, however, many French people take charivari in a bit of a self-aware stride. Following the nuptials, wedding guests partake in charivari by following the couple around with noisemakers, hoots and hollers — much like what is seen at just about any wedding ceremony. A fun bit of trivia, though: many believe that the French tradition of blowing car horns following a wedding is a remnant of the age-old charivari ritual. Interesting Wedding Traditions: The Forbidden Bathroom Interesting Wedding Traditions Borneo Source: WordPress For those with a small bladder, be thankful that you are not a Bornean bride or bridegroom. Residing in the northeastern corners of Borneo, the Tidong people approach marriage with a number of rich–and occasionally bizarre–customs. On the day of the wedding, for example, the groom may only see his bride upon showering her shadow (she is concealed behind a veil) with romantic serenades. Following this musical requirement, the groom may see his bride and the ceremony may proceed. Interesting Wedding Traditions Borneo Guests Source: Flickr It gets a bit less lovey-dovey from here on out. After the couple seals the deal, they are forbidden to use the restroom for three days. However odd it may seem to virtually everyone else outside of the culture, the thought among the Tidong people is that should the couple meet the toilet before those 72 hours pass, the marriage is doomed to fail. Infidelity and even the premature death of their future children are imminent. Thus instead of packing on the inevitable honeymoon poundage, Tidong newlyweds are given minimal amounts of food and water so they don’t throw away their future at the face of the porcelain throne. Interesting Wedding Traditions: Shoe Stealing Interesting Wedding Traditions India Feet Source: TGK Designs In a culture known for its bold and vibrant foods and clothing, it makes sense that its various wedding traditions would be just as rich and off-the-wall. With roots stemming from the romance of Radha and Krishna, India’s shoe-stealing ritual is truly a sight to behold. Interesting Weddings India Source: Blogspot As is custom during the wedding ceremony, the groom must remove his shoes when exchanging vows. It is at this precise moment that the bride’s sisters and cousins–perhaps in a symbolic assertion of their honor–engage in the art of slipper snatching. Often employing the outlandish while procuring and hiding the groom’s apparel, the bride’s family is met with another challenge: getting the shoes away from the groom’s family, whose goal is to protect them. Typically, the bride’s family is successful, and upon the conclusion of the nuptials, the shoeless groom must beg the bride’s family–often in the form of money or favors–for the return of his shoes. While many correctly view the shoe-stealing ritual as a lighthearted prank, the Indian custom is also a non-traditional way to bring otherwise isolated families together and foster amity among the now united community. If you enjoyed reading about the world’s most interesting wedding traditions, be sure to read our articles on the most bizarre festivals and the interesting history of wedding gowns!