The world is a small place. Love has no boundaries. Together, these two statements create many international romances. International love can add excitement and diversity to a relationship, but it can also create several problems, especially when it comes to weddings. Many couples find themselves pondering which cultural traditions to incorporate into the ceremony. With numerous wedding traditions throughout the world, ceremonies are more and more multicultural in nature. Even couples from the same country often look to other cultures for unique ceremony ideas. Described below are a few wedding traditions rooted in several Baltic countries.
Similar in spirit to the bride tossing her bouquet, in
The Swedish couple incorporates pungent herbs into their attire in order to ward off bad spirits and trolls.
The Swedish bride receives three bands upon the exchange of vows. The first represents her engagement, the second her wedding, and the third her hopes for motherhood.
The Latvian bride is often “kidnapped” by guests or members of her bridal party. To get her back, the groom must pay a ransom, usually a round of drinks for all!
The bride enjoys her wedding attire until the stroke of midnight, upon which other women at the reception remove her white dress and veil, where she then transitions from “bride” to “wife.”
In
A common ritual for the Finnish bride, similar to that of the Estonian groom, is to remove her golden crown while blindfolded and place in on the head of one of the many girls dancing around her. This lucky lady will be the next to marry.
On the wedding day, the bride greets her parents in the early morning hours and formally says good-bye to her parents and her home. After the marriage takes place, the bride and groom return to her parent’s house, where her mom and dad no longer treat her as a member of the family, but rather as a welcomed guest.
The bride enters the church wearing a wreath of rue upon her head. Her bridesmaids remove this headpiece and replace it with another, more mature one. This tradition represents the bride’s transition for childhood to womanhood.
Waiting is the key to healthy marriages. Most couples are engaged for at least 3 years before taking their vows. The couple surely is not rushed. Nor is the traditional wedding ceremony. The ceremony itself could last for well over a week, with the actually marriage occurring on a Sunday.
