Every one of these are real traditions!
You may think it’s odd to throw rice at the happy couple on their wedding day, but that’s probably one of the least strange marriage customs of all! People do some pretty odd things when getting married, and here are a few of them:
- In China, the Tujia people have a tradition of weeping before the wedding. A month before the ceremony, the bride cries for an hour a day. 20 days before the event, the mother joins in, and 10 days later the grandmother joins. By the time the ceremony rolls around, every female in the family cries along with the bride as an expression of joy.
- In Northern Borneo, people of the Tidong tribes confine the newlyweds to their homes for three days and nights. To make it worse, they are not allowed to use the bathroom AT ALL during those three days.
- In Northern Mongolia, the Daur people require that the bride and groom kill a baby chick together, each with a hand on the knife. They gut the chick to inspect its liver, and only if the liver looks fine are they allowed to set a date for their wedding.
- In Fiji, any young man wanting to get married must bring more than just a simple wedding present! They must present the father with the tooth of a whale, one of the most difficult things to get your hands on considering whales are exclusively underwater creatures.
- In Kenya, the Massai will often spit on the breasts and head of the bride as she leaves her village. It is usually only the father of the bride that does so.
- In Southern Sudan, the Neur tribesfolk believe that the marriage has not truly been completed until the new wife has given birth to two children. If the wife fails to have two kids, the husband is actually allowed to seek a divorce.
- In Sweden, it’s better for the bride and groom to stay at their table. Should either one leave, members of their sex will pounce of the remaining newlywed to lavish them with kisses.
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- In Ireland, newlyweds must keep their feet on the dance floor at all times during their first dance. It’s believed that if they don’t, fairies will come and spirit away the bride.
- In France, the friends and family of the wedding couple will throw all of the trash and leftovers into the toilet bowl, and both the bride and groom must drink from the bowl. Thankfully, chocolate is mostly used these days in place of trash.
- In the Maruesas Islands in French Polynesia, the relatives of the bride will lay face down in the dirt, side by side. The happy couple stop on the backs of their relatives to walk away from the party.
- In India, or at least certain parts of it, the groom must remove his shoes as he is walking up to the wedding altar. When the shoes are removed, all of the bride’s family try to steal the shoes, but all of the groom’s family tries to protect the groom. If the bride’s family succeeds, the groom’s family must pay ransom to get them back.
- In Mauritania, women go to special camps to GAIN weight for their wedding day. Fat women are considered beautiful.
- In Germany, newlyweds smash new dishes as a way of warding off evil spirits.
- In the Congo, the bride and groom are not permitted to smile at all during their wedding ceremony.
- In Korea, the groom must remove his socks once the ceremony is complete, attach a rope to his ankles, and hit his feet with a fish. This is meant to prepare him for his wedding night.
