Different cultures will often try to celebrate different things or celebrate things in their unique way. The typical American birthday party (not the Kanye West one) may look radically different from a French one, for example. While religion is often a huge factor in how we celebrate important moments in our lives, cultural history and habit aren’t to be underestimated.
Since it would be impossible to look at all important moments in someone’s life, let’s take a look at how a wedding would be all over the world.
India
The most unique thing about weddings in India is known as the Mehendi ceremony. It’s where the bride’s limbs are painted entirely with henna, and all female friends and relatives or the bride join in on the painting.
Germany
The biggest wedding tradition in Germany actually takes place before the wedding. Polterabend is something they do the night before the wedding and it basically surmounts to smashing loads of dishes for luck. Because why not.
Italy
In Tuscany, it was actually common to get married in black as a bride instead of white. You can imagine this set them apart from the rest of the world quite easily. Sadly, this tradition has all but vanished and most Italian women get married in white like the rest of us.
Japan
In Japanese weddings, the bride will often be dressed entirely in a white kimono and painted in white too. This represents purity. Japanese brides don’t stay in one outfit for the entire wedding though – they often switch outfits.
Mexico
The way Mexicans celebrate weddings is quite different from the rest of the world. Where most people usually associate weddings with white colored gowns, Mexican people actually have very colorful weddings. Their weddings are also very much influenced by religion.
Jamaica
Jamaican weddings aren’t intimate or small. They’re events that bring the whole community together, even going so far as to let the villagers judge the bride. If she didn’t look good enough, they would send her back to make herself look better.
China
Chinese weddings ooze tradition. The brides dress in red, and will often switch to white mid-party. There’s a lot of eastern symbolism involved, and you’ll often see imagery of dragons and phoenixes in gold – they represent male and female strength. Probably the weirdest tradition: before the groom can marry the bride, he has to convince her parents to hand her over on the day of the wedding. The only thing that can convince them is, well, a properly filled envelope of money.
