Bride in the slop and kidnapping of the groom: 11 weirdest wedding traditions from around the world
'16.10.2021'
Source: 7 sisters
Unlike the traditions of these countries, a wedding in the United States will seem boring, says 7 sisters.
China
Do you think a wedding should be fun? Chinese girls will disagree with you: they associate a wedding exclusively with tears. Exactly two weeks before the ceremony, the bride closes herself in a special room ... and starts crying! The more tears, the happier the family life. To guarantee the result, her mother, friends and close relatives join her later. They all sing special songs that should touch the bride's heart and make her cry even more.
Japan
In Russia, you won't surprise anyone with a change in wedding dresses: Svetlana Bondarchuk and Ksenia Sobchak actively practiced it at their own wedding parties. But in Japan everything depends on the wealth of the bride's family: if the income of the parents is impressive, then she needs to choose at least three wedding dresses. Three kimonos - and each requires a new hairstyle and make-up. The tradition is followed by those who believe that it will help make family life diversified.
First, the bride tries on a long white kimono and complements it with accessories of the same shade. White color, as in many countries, symbolizes the spiritual purity and innocence of the girl. Her hair is hidden under a tsonokakushi headdress: translated, it means “hide the horns” (that is, in the opinion of the Japanese, to hide the jealousy that is characteristic of women). At the banquet, the bride changes into a floral kimono, and then into a European dress for the final photo shoot and dance with the groom.
Scotland
Scotland has a strange idea of spa treatments before the wedding. In some regions to this day there is a custom of "denigrating the bride" - a girl is doused from head to toe with a foul-smelling mixture of rancid food, beer, kefir, mayonnaise and eggs. Then she, in the company of friends, is sent to stroll through all the pubs of the city. It is believed that after such humiliation, the future wife is no longer afraid of any ugly actions of her husband. The less presentable the bride's appearance and the smell emanating from her, the more happy the fiance's relatives are.
Ireland
If in the Caucasus the bridegroom's friends can kidnap the bride, in Ireland the forest fairies are suspected of this. On the wedding day, the bride is strictly forbidden to take her legs off the floor while dancing - otherwise the fairies can steal her and hide her from the groom forever.
India
And again stealing - but this time quite real, not fabulous. In the Indian state of Bihar, a girl who wants to get married can do without a “tinder” and dating. It is enough for her to find a candidate suitable for the wedding and organize the kidnapping of the groom she likes. For the latter, there is no option to "refuse to marry": he must agree to the wedding ceremony.
On the subject: Wedding loan: why do Russians marry on credit and what does this mean
Indonesia
If in most countries the entry into adulthood symbolizes the loss of innocence, then on the island of Bali, a visit to the dentist is credited with similar properties. There, newlyweds are filed teeth - six pieces each for the bride and groom. This ritual symbolizes the creation of a new unit of society and the financial separation of a young family from their parents. It is also believed that by filing teeth, husband and wife get rid of the temptation to commit adultery.
Kenya
Kenya cannot be called a country of victorious feminism, but local residents have a rather peculiar understanding of how difficult it is for married women. Immediately after the wedding, a man is forced to put on a woman's attire and do housework - this is how he spends the first month of family life, so that later his whole life he will not succumb to the temptation to devalue domestic work.
Rwanda
After marriage, Rwandan men also have a hard time: each of them's wife is allowed to inflict physical violence on her husband - to beat, bite and scratch as much as she pleases. True, only during the first two weeks of marriage: this is done so that the young wife runs out of all anger and the couple's life is happy.
On the subject: Sheets for coupons and a banquet with a fight: the truth about Soviet weddings
Mauritania
This is an Islamic state in which love for plus-size women has been triumphant for centuries: here girls with size XS are called ugly, because they believe that the fuller the bride, the healthier the future children. In some regions, from the age of 10, parents send girls to special schools, where they make sure that they eat fatty foods: eat meat and cereals, washed down with camel milk. Those who prefer a regular education to such a school are locked up for two weeks before the wedding - they are forced to eat high-calorie food for days and are restricted in movement.
Nepal
Engagement in Nepal is concluded even during pregnancy: the ceremony is held with the participation of expectant mothers, who make such a responsible decision for the unborn children. Interestingly, in Nepal it is not customary to find out the gender of a baby before giving birth - and if children of the same sex are born, the engagement is immediately terminated.
Libya
To celebrate the wedding of a friend or relative, a Libyan resident will have to take a short vacation, as the ceremony takes seven whole days. On the sixth day, the newly-made husband presents his wife with a basket of gifts, among which there must be oil perfume. With the help of her friends and her mother, she rubs them into the heel - this unusual tradition is calculated on the fact that after observing it, the husband will be "henpecked" and will not go anywhere from his wife.
