What are some examples of cultural wedding traditions?

Question

For example, jumping the broom for Black people and stomping on the glass for Jewish people.

Answer 1

I'm Ukrainian Catholic, and in our tradition, there is the blessing of the bride and groom at the bride's home just prior to the wedding ceremony at the church. We knelt down before my mom and his dad and were blessed by them, as well as by other family members. We had a traditional wedding ceremony in Ukrainian, concelebrated by three priests, one of whom is my husband's brother. There is a point in the ceremony, where we were declared king and queen, and had wreaths made of the myrtle plant placed on our heads. Some churches use actual crowns for this. There is also a blessing at the very end of the service, where I had to kneel at the upper altar before the priest, he covered my head with a pure white cloth, and I got a special bride's blessing.
My husband is Rusyn (not Russian, but Ruthenian, a type of Ukrainian) and their pre-wedding tradition is fascinating. Everyone gathers at the bride's home, and there is a person "in charge" of the goings-on, a sponsor, (like a senior family member or family friend). He calls for a selection of girls to be brought to see if they would be suitable wives. So one girl comes in, twirls around before the groom to be, and he "finds something wrong" with her - like her hair colour is wrong. A second one comes, and he does the same. When the third one comes, she is the bride to be, and he accepts her from the sponsor. One cool thing they do, is everyone walks to the church in procession - that sure stops traffic across busy city streets! At the reception, they have dances where people line up to pay for dances with the bride. I guess that is not so uncommon - because on Answers, I've heard people talk about money dances. But at the end of the Rusyn dances with the bride, the groom comes in, throws his whole wallet in the bowl, and carries off the bride!

Answer 2

well looks like you answered your own question. i dont know how cultural jumping the broom is. i think it just started maybe 20 or 30 years ago after the movie roots came out, and the characters jumped the broom. i would go to ask.com and post the question so that you could get more clarity to your answer and the explanation behind the action. like i dont know if that is Jewish tradition, religious belief, or culture for stomping the glass. and you might want to specifically clarify the information that you are receiving so that it is correct.

Answer 3

An Indian groom rides an elephant or a white horse to the ceremony. The bride and her attendants have henna designs put all over their hands. I was an invited guest of an Indian wedding.

Answer 4

We had a Korean and Western ceremony. The Korean ceremony included the bowing to the parents, throwing of dates (for fertility), a piggy back ride on my husband (though I'm not sure why. . .), and receiving of the wedding geese (geese supposedly only have one partner regardless of death--they do not "remarry").

A common Western and/or Christian wedding tradition is the Unity candle which we also did.

Answer 5

Church of England - at the wedding the Minister uses his scarf vestment to wrap around the couples hands as he prays. Thats where the saying 'tying the knot' comes from.

Answer 6

persian culture (I cant remember all of it) the couple lights a candle in front of a mirror. I cant remember what this signifies, they also do other traditions.