Have you ever stopped to wonder how other couples around the world celebrated their most important day? Sure enough, you most likely got your arms too full with all the tiny details of your own wedding day to even think about other people?s weddings. But just because you're too stressed out doesn't mean you can't put down that big wedding checklist and see for yourself how others halfway around the globe are faring up. Perhaps you might even get some ideas.
China
In modern day China, brides are prompted to display their families' wealth by going through 3 wardrobe changes in a day. It's nerve-wrangling enough to pick, dress and fit in to the right wedding gown for your big day, but to go through the effort of wearing three? At first, the bride wears what they call a qipao, the traditional silk wedding dress that comes in red to symbolize good luck. The dress is loose-fitting and covers each strip of skin apart from the bride's face, hands and feet. Next, she changes into a poufy, white, ball-gown style rather like many of the traditional Aussie wedding robes. Then toward the close of the day, she slips into a comfortable gown or even cocktail dress of her choice.
Scotland
A wedding and the years that follow are not unimportant things. The 2 people who are to go thru this fateful day need to be positively prepared mentally and emotionally for their wedding. That's why the folks over at Scotland have thought up a strategy of getting the bride (and infrequently the groom) psychologically prepared for this day--by dousing her in buckets and buckets of rubbish. The Scots call this dirty, sloppy ritual "blackening the bride" where the bride's friends catch her off guard and dumping all sorts of revolting stuff on her. It can be rotten eggs, spoilt milk, mud, flour, feather, a mix of all these or anything that makes you recall the word "garbage". It is said that the humiliation that the bride goes thru prepares her for the obstacles of wedded life ahead.
Mauritania
While in most other parts of the world, women go into an obsessive weight control mission to make sure they're fit and trim enough to slip into their wedding gowns, the ladies of Mauritania scramble to make themselves very , very fat. This is due to the fact that, for men, having fat wives are a tell-tale sign that they're wealthy enough to provide her most basic needs. They can't do with a slim and slender better half, or else their neighbours will think he isn't making enough to fend for her. Not so fast for women that have given up on trying hard to be healthy. If you're a bride in Mauritania, you've got to be sent to a wife-fattening farm where you've got to eat up to 16,000 calories a day. It's one thing to stop obsessing about self image, but it's also one other thing to keep yourself healthy.
Russia
A Russian bride-to-be and her family play extremely hard to get when a person decides to request her hand. Before the wedding occurs, the groom has to go to the bride's family's house and formally ask to be betrothed. Naturally, the family refuses and asks the groom to do all kinds of daft things for them. He's asked to sing, dance and do foolish acts of showing his readiness for marriage, such as putting nappies on a baby doll. If the family still refuses, the groom has to pay a specific amount of money or jewelry to "ransom" his bride. All's well that ends well, don't you suspect?
China
In modern day China, brides are prompted to display their families' wealth by going through 3 wardrobe changes in a day. It's nerve-wrangling enough to pick, dress and fit in to the right wedding gown for your big day, but to go through the effort of wearing three? At first, the bride wears what they call a qipao, the traditional silk wedding dress that comes in red to symbolize good luck. The dress is loose-fitting and covers each strip of skin apart from the bride's face, hands and feet. Next, she changes into a poufy, white, ball-gown style rather like many of the traditional Aussie wedding robes. Then toward the close of the day, she slips into a comfortable gown or even cocktail dress of her choice.
Scotland
A wedding and the years that follow are not unimportant things. The 2 people who are to go thru this fateful day need to be positively prepared mentally and emotionally for their wedding. That's why the folks over at Scotland have thought up a strategy of getting the bride (and infrequently the groom) psychologically prepared for this day--by dousing her in buckets and buckets of rubbish. The Scots call this dirty, sloppy ritual "blackening the bride" where the bride's friends catch her off guard and dumping all sorts of revolting stuff on her. It can be rotten eggs, spoilt milk, mud, flour, feather, a mix of all these or anything that makes you recall the word "garbage". It is said that the humiliation that the bride goes thru prepares her for the obstacles of wedded life ahead.
Mauritania
While in most other parts of the world, women go into an obsessive weight control mission to make sure they're fit and trim enough to slip into their wedding gowns, the ladies of Mauritania scramble to make themselves very , very fat. This is due to the fact that, for men, having fat wives are a tell-tale sign that they're wealthy enough to provide her most basic needs. They can't do with a slim and slender better half, or else their neighbours will think he isn't making enough to fend for her. Not so fast for women that have given up on trying hard to be healthy. If you're a bride in Mauritania, you've got to be sent to a wife-fattening farm where you've got to eat up to 16,000 calories a day. It's one thing to stop obsessing about self image, but it's also one other thing to keep yourself healthy.
Russia
A Russian bride-to-be and her family play extremely hard to get when a person decides to request her hand. Before the wedding occurs, the groom has to go to the bride's family's house and formally ask to be betrothed. Naturally, the family refuses and asks the groom to do all kinds of daft things for them. He's asked to sing, dance and do foolish acts of showing his readiness for marriage, such as putting nappies on a baby doll. If the family still refuses, the groom has to pay a specific amount of money or jewelry to "ransom" his bride. All's well that ends well, don't you suspect?
About the Author:
Chris McCafferty - Celebrant PerthChris McCafferty officiates weddings, commitment ceremonies and renewal of vows. He has been fortunate enough to officiate an affirmation of vows at his parents' recent 50-year wedding anniversary. For more information about Chris and his services, please visit www.celebrantsperth.com.au.
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