Have you ever stopped to think about how other couples around the planet celebrated their big day? Sure enough, you probably got your arms too full with all of the little details of your own wedding day to even think about other people?s weddings. But simply because you're too strung 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. Maybe you might even get some ideas.
China
In modern-day China, brides are urged to display their families' wealth by going through three wardrobe changes in a day. It's stressful enough to choose, dress and fit in to the right wedding gown for your big day, but to go through the trouble of wearing three? Initially, 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 except for the bride's face, hands and feet. Next, she changes into a poufy, white, ball-gown style quite like lots of the normal Aussie wedding gowns. Then toward the day's close, she slips into a rather more comfortable gown or maybe cocktail dress of her choice.
Scotland
A wedding and the years that follow are not trivial things. The two people who are to go thru this fateful day need to be positively prepared mentally and emotionally for their marriage. That's why the folks over at Scotland have thought up a technique of getting the bride (and sometimes the groom) psychologically ready for this day--by dousing her in buckets and buckets of garbage. The Scots call this filthy, sloppy ritual "blackening the bride" where the bride's friends catch her off guard and dumping all kinds of disgusting stuff on her. It can be rotten eggs, spoilt milk, mud, flour, feather, a combination of all these or anything that makes you think of the word "garbage". It is said that the shame the bride goes thru prepares her for the obstacles of married life ahead.
Mauritania
While in most other parts of the world, ladies go into an obsessive weight control mission to make sure they're fit and trim enough to slip into their wedding robes, the ladies of Mauritania scramble to make themselves exceedingly fat. This is because, for men, having fat wives are a sign that they are well off enough to provide her most basic needs. They can't do with a slim and slender spouse, 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 have got to eat to 16,000 calories each day. It's one thing to stop obsessing about body image, but it's also another thing to keep yourself healthy.
Russia
A Russian bride-to-be and her family play hard to get when a person decides to ask for her hand in marriage. Before the marriage takes place, 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 silly things for them. He's asked to sing, dance and do stupid acts of showing his preparedness for marriage, such as putting nappies on a baby doll. If the family still refuses, the groom has to pay a certain quantity of money or jewellery to "ransom" his bride. All's well that ends well, don't you think?
China
In modern-day China, brides are urged to display their families' wealth by going through three wardrobe changes in a day. It's stressful enough to choose, dress and fit in to the right wedding gown for your big day, but to go through the trouble of wearing three? Initially, 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 except for the bride's face, hands and feet. Next, she changes into a poufy, white, ball-gown style quite like lots of the normal Aussie wedding gowns. Then toward the day's close, she slips into a rather more comfortable gown or maybe cocktail dress of her choice.
Scotland
A wedding and the years that follow are not trivial things. The two people who are to go thru this fateful day need to be positively prepared mentally and emotionally for their marriage. That's why the folks over at Scotland have thought up a technique of getting the bride (and sometimes the groom) psychologically ready for this day--by dousing her in buckets and buckets of garbage. The Scots call this filthy, sloppy ritual "blackening the bride" where the bride's friends catch her off guard and dumping all kinds of disgusting stuff on her. It can be rotten eggs, spoilt milk, mud, flour, feather, a combination of all these or anything that makes you think of the word "garbage". It is said that the shame the bride goes thru prepares her for the obstacles of married life ahead.
Mauritania
While in most other parts of the world, ladies go into an obsessive weight control mission to make sure they're fit and trim enough to slip into their wedding robes, the ladies of Mauritania scramble to make themselves exceedingly fat. This is because, for men, having fat wives are a sign that they are well off enough to provide her most basic needs. They can't do with a slim and slender spouse, 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 have got to eat to 16,000 calories each day. It's one thing to stop obsessing about body image, but it's also another thing to keep yourself healthy.
Russia
A Russian bride-to-be and her family play hard to get when a person decides to ask for her hand in marriage. Before the marriage takes place, 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 silly things for them. He's asked to sing, dance and do stupid acts of showing his preparedness for marriage, such as putting nappies on a baby doll. If the family still refuses, the groom has to pay a certain quantity of money or jewellery to "ransom" his bride. All's well that ends well, don't you think?
About the Author:
Chris McCafferty - Wedding CelebrantChris 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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