Did you ever help steal the groom’s shoes at a Hindu wedding? As normal as it may sound to us, it must be weird for other communities when they learn about this. Of course, they all have their own beliefs as to what is lucky or is unlucky. And marriage being such an important institution, some people just go all out when it comes to weird customs.
Here are 15 of the weirdest marriage traditions followed around the world:
1. Banging on the first wedding night in France.
This is not the kind of banging you expect on the first night of your wedding. Family and friends gather outside the house of the newly weds and start banging on pots and pans. What’s more? The couple has to serve them drinks and snacks. This age-old French tradition is known as Charivari.
2. The fat farms in Mauritania. The fatter, the better.
In Mauritania, brides actually work towards getting healthier and chubbier. Yes, it is believed to be a good luck charm in their tradition. So they go to fat farms to gain weight even though it has caused many women to fall ill and have health issues.
3. Beating the groom with dead fish in Korea.
Some South Koreans believe that in order to make the groom ready for the first night of the marriage, his feet need to be beaten by dead fish and bamboo sticks. What exactly are they preparing him for?
4. The Blackening ritual of Scotland.
Bride too pretty? Well, let’s just cover her in goo. This tradition actually involves family & friends showering the couple with all sorts of disgusting things and then tying her to a tree. This is only done so that the bride & groom can prove that they are ready for anything… and they mean ANYTHING!
5. Practicing crying for a month before the wedding in China.
The brides have to cry everyday for an hour for a month before their wedding. Other female relatives join in as well. Crying for the Tujia people in China means the welcoming of a good marriage or event.
6. Killing a baby chick to set a wedding date in China and Inner Mongolia.
The Daur tribe is known for its ethnicity & traditions. The to-be-weds are required to hold a knife together and kill a live baby chick & then inspect its liver. If the liver is fine, they can set a date for their wedding, else they have to keep killing until they find a good liver.
7. Holding your shit (and pee) together in Borneo.
The bride and groom of the Tidong community in Borneo are confined to a house or a room where they are not allowed to take a dump or even pee for 3 days and 3 nights. Imagine the agony and the relief.
8. Gifting a whale’s tooth to the father-in-law in Fiji.
This unusual tradition is followed when a man asks for a girl’s hand in marriage. What if he can’t find a whale tooth in the market? Does he really go hunting for it?
9. Minimum two kids required in Sudan.
There are certain tribes in Southern Sudan that believe a marriage can only prosper if the bride can give birth to two children. If she fails to do so, the groom can divorce her.
10. The mucous of Maasai tradition.
The father basically spits on his daughter for good luck before she departs her home with her groom.
11. The Swedish kissing party.
During a wedding ceremony, if a groom leaves the room, all men stand up to kiss the bride and if a bride excuses herself to the bathroom, then all the women line up to kiss the groom.
12. Offering spoons of love in Wales.
A groom is required to gift his new bride with a carved ‘Lovespoon’ signifying that he will never let her go hungry.
13. Forming a human carpet in Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.
After the wedding is done, the relatives lie down on the ground facedown and the couple walk on them as if it were a rug made out of people.
14. The Polterabend dish breaking custom in Germany.
Guests bring porcelain for the newly weds and then… break them!
15. The mother accompanying you to your honeymoon night in Africa.
Okay, this one is really weird. Mothers or elders in certain African tribes accompany the newlyweds to ‘educate’ them on how to spend the night.