Western bridal customs add a joyful mix of customs and frolicsome challenges to a couple’s quest into marriage, from breaking dishes https://www.teenvogue.com/story/best-love-songs-of-all-time to sawing through logs. Family and friends gather outside the bride’s home to split numerous porcelain dishes to bring good fortune to the couple’s union. One such pre-wedding tradition is known as Polterabend. The handful is then required to remove all the pieces themselves, reiterating their commitment to working along through any challenges that may arise in the future.
A post-wedding service known as the la rotie in Italy is incredibly intimate and scatological, but it is also profoundly connected to the country’s agrarian tradition. After the bride, a group of friends abduct the bride and groom, who finally transports them to a table or restaurant where they serve the brides with a libation of champagne and chocolate served in a compartment bowl. The couple may subsequently share a bowl of garlic soup, which represents married life’s daily closeness.
Although it may seem common to most people to pour grain or petals on newlyweds, in Poland, oats women from norway and barley are also sprinkled on the few to wish them good health and fecundity. Before the wedding ceremony, the couple is also sprinkled with salt and bread, which are considered the essentials of life, to ensure that they always have what they need to survive. Additionally, it is customary for the couple to step on vodka bottles that are displayed at the venue’s “passing gates” to wish them prosperity and abundance.
