10 Strange Wedding Rituals From Around The World

Each country you visit will have a different wedding tradition from yours. Any celebration, most of all, weddings, where ceremonies vary greatly within religion, community and social class, culminates many types of strange rituals.

While most weddings are simple affairs involving a small-scale celebration and rituals, with an exchange of vows, some regions practice quite bizarre customs. We have compiled a list of 10 strange wedding rituals found around the world.

Crying Ritual of the Tujia People

For the Tuija people in China, a celebration of wedding takes place 30 days before the main event. And they prepare for it by crying. The bride first starts the ceremony by crying for an hour a day. After 10 days, her mother joins her, 10 days following which, her grandmother joins them. This continues until the whole family joins her in shedding tears. Believe it or not, this is actually an expression of love and happiness, rather than one of sadness.

Sweden’s Kissing Tradition

Well, here the kissing is between the guests and the wedding couple. If the groom leaves the floor for any business, the male guests gathered in the room can kiss the bride. The same goes for the groom and the female guests as well.

 

KumbhVivah for Manglik Dosh in India

India is home to some of the strangest wedding rituals. Here, if the bride and groom are destined with a Manglik Dosh, then the one who has the Dosh (akin to the evil eye) will marry either a statue of Vishnu, or a peepal or banana tree first to ward off the evil. After this, they marry their better half.

Beating the Groom’s Feet

This is a South Korean ritual wherein the groom’s friends remove his shoes and tie his feet together. They then lift the feet and hit the soles with a stick or dried yellow corvine (a kind of fish!). Koreans believe this makes the man stronger and energetic before the first night.

Carrying the Bride Across the Threshold

This is a centuries-old tradition, dating back to probably the medieval ages. This came into existence with the belief that a newly wed girl is vulnerable to evil spirits through the soles of her feet. So to avoid any spirits coming into contact, she is carried over the threshold to her new home.

Marrying Animals to Ward off Ghosts

Again a superstitious Indian wedding ritual. Girls who are believed to be possessed by ghosts are married to an animal, usually a goat or a dog. Indians believe that this breaks off the curse and expels the ghost from her body. She can later marry a man.

Kidnapping the Bride

Also known as ‘Kyzalakachuu’, this ritual is found in many regions around the world, even in India. Here, firstly, the groom abducts his woman before the wedding. He then hides her until the groom’s male relatives convince her to put on the scarf of a married woman as an acceptance to marriage. Most notably, this ritual is found in Kyrgyzstan and among the Romani (gypsies). Talk about strange wedding rituals!

Pay to Dance with the Bride

Originating in Poland during the 1990s, this is one of those strange wedding rituals that takes place at the reception. The male guests pay to dance with the bride, while the female guests pay to dance with the groom.

 

 

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