Interesting Wedding Night Rituals from Around The World

                                                                                                   Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Weddings are occasions of lasting traditions and rituals. All over the world, people’s beliefs, culture and history has affected this memorable event. It is common knowledge that wedding ceremonies are different all over the world, but did you know that the diversity extends even on the wedding night? Read this to know the interesting activities that couples, families and friends do before letting the newlyweds reach a night of wedding bliss!



It is customary in an American wedding for the bride and groom to hop into a get-away car with tin cans attached to the rear of the car, off to their secret honeymoon, immediately after the wedding. Did you know that this rooted from escaping a Celtic wedding night tradition?

In Gaelic cultures, it was a tradition for friends and family of the couple to mess with the couple’s wedding night. In the olden days, when couples spend their wedding night in a barn, girl friends of the bride would dress her for bed and ask each of the male guests to kiss her good night. The friends would do other things to prevent the groom from seeing her new wife. Even if the couple finally comes together, they would disturb the union by making noise outside the barn and even peep into the couple, while drinking the night away. The couple waits for everyone to get too drunk to eventually leave them alone. This kind of prank is something that newly weds want to get away from, thus, they keep their honeymoon destination a secret and speed away after the wedding.

More Celtic wedding night ritual come from Scotland: sleeping in the barn on the first night, sprinkling water on the marriage bed for luck and staying for a week with the bride's parents before moving into the newlywed’s home.

The Germans and the French do a similar tradition of “disturbing” the wedding night, called Chiverie, known in the US as Shivaree. They make noise outside the place where the couple spends their first night together. Some even play around with the room where they will stay, like put plenty of balloons, spread food all over the bed, and hide alarm clock everywhere, just for fun.

The Romans believed that it was bad fortune when the bride stumbles when entering the newlywed’s house for the first time. Thus, after the wedding, male friends of the couple would carry her over the doorstep. At present, the groom is expected to do the job himself.

In Benin, western Africa, they value virginity. The bride’s mother rewards her with cash if she’s a virgin at their wedding night! In the morning, the sheets that the couples used are inspected for bloodstains. Some mothers even "fly the flag" out the window, showing off their daughter's bloodstained nightgown. Seriously!

For the Chinese, at the night of the wedding, candles designed with a phoenix and a dragon is lit to drive the evil spirit away. The newlyweds will drink wine from goblets tied together with a red ribbon, while arms intertwined. Then the bride will be given half-raw dumplings, which symbolize prosperity.

Marquesasian (from Polynesia) brides have a notable wedding night ritual: they are expected to have sex with all the male guests and then saving the groom for last. Now that can make your wedding night … extremely unforgettable!

Wedding Crashers: Guests from the Uninvited World

In every occasion, there is an invitation. In every invitation, there is an invited guest. However, for every party, there is bound to be a party crasher.



Take for example in wedding celebrations. For so many years now, there are people who come to the event without even an invitation or the mere fact that they were invited. These are known as the wedding crashers.



Wedding crashers are “unexpected guests” primarily because they were not invited in the first place. But because they think that love is in the air and they are not invited, they cannot help but attend the party.



So, for people who wish to know how to become a wedding crasher, here are some tips that you can use.



1. Try to become a long-lost cousin or somebody who is “within” the family.



In most wedding celebrations, the family is always included. In fact, most of the wedding invitations tend to be some sort of family reunions because the family members get together once again.



And because there are tons of relatives present in the celebration, the bride or the groom will not notice, who you are or where did you come from. So, it would be better to pretend as a long lost relative.



Best of all, you could extend the drama if you have a beautifully gift-wrapped package with you. Who could resist somebody who was known as Uncle Clemence’s long lost son and now he has come back (with your personality, of course).



2. Try being a staff member of the wedding caterer or wedding coordinator.



In order to be able to crash into a wedding, you could always pretend to be a staff member of something.



In a wedding, there are lots of people being hired in the planning and preparation. So, one way of crashing into the scene is to pretend that you are a staff member of the catering company or the flower arrangements.



It is just a matter of drama and actions. After all, you would want to eat a very nice meal, right?



3. If somebody asks you who you are, you could always say you are a friend of somebody who is also at the party.



Pick the name of your choice. You can always find someone else’s name when you are being asked why you are at the party or who is with you right now.



This is a safe tactic if you do not feel like choosing whose side of the couple will you take in order to introduce yourself. Besides, with this strategy, you can be pretty sure that with over a hundred or 200 guests in the party, who would dare verify that the name you have chosen really exists.



4. Dress to kill.



The best part of being a wedding crasher is to dress up a little bit in order to suit the occasion. Even if it means that you were “dressed to kill,” it would be better to dress appropriately in order to fit in the event.



After all, wedding crashing is not all about free food and wines. It can also be one way of finding the love of your life.



5. Timing is an essence.



One of the most important things one should remember when crashing into the party is to show up really late. This is because by the time you have arrived, everybody has started drinking, socializing, and getting so much into the details of the wedding that their defenses become relatively low.



So, when you arrived at the wedding, no one will surely notice your arrival, so, you can easily slip in and join the party.



Indeed, wedding crashers can be very unethical people to love with. But then again, some of these people are also worth your time and money because of the company that they can give to your other guests.



After all, for wedding crashers, life is, indeed, worth partying out that is why it is a great idea to attend to a party or wedding even if you are not invited.