Shared Culture Practices
Wedding traditions around the world often showcase cultural practices and the heritage of the couple, family and friends. Interestingly, there are many shared customs and rituals between people from seemingly disparate places. Read on to learn about differences that actually hide similar to identical wedding practices, funny cultural rivalries, and marriage superstitions in South Asia, Europe, and the MENA region.
Indian and Pakistani
When it comes to weddings, Indian and Pakistani celebrations share quite a number of cultural similarities, from food, to clothing, to traditional events leading up to the big day. Muslims comprise the majoritarian religious population in Pakistan, as Hindus do in India. While the traditional marriage ceremonies – the nikkah for Muslims and seven rotations around the fire for Hindus – are different like night and day, the celebrations leading to the big day are largely the same. For example, both cultural groups, host a mehndi, in which the bride’s hands and feet are decorated with henna, followed by a long night of feasting and dancing, in traditional clothing, such as brightly coloured saaris for the women, and the coat-like garment known as a sherwani for men.
French and Italian
Both countries lay claim to invention of the superior version of the delicious fizzy beverage, prosecco, with this drink served to toast the health and happiness of the bride and groom. However, this is just the beginning of similarities and differences between these two renaissance European cultures. While both draw from the Christian Catholic tradition, in France there is strong bifurcation between church and state, and couples are required to perform their wedding ceremonies in city halls. For Italians, Sunday is considered an especially auspicious day for wedding, symbolizing luck and fertility, and marriage ceremonies are performed in churches.
Both the Italians and French come from rich culinary traditions – that rely on heavy doses of butter and cream. Yum! In French weddings a crocembouche, vanilla filled puffed pastry, often replaces the expected wedding cake. At Italian weddings, you can expect a starter scoop of sorbet, and to end the night a traditional coffee soaked, spongey tiramisu.
Arabic Weddings
Arab culture spreads across North Africa to the Middle East, and beyond, and each region brings its cultural variations to weddings and marriage practices. Moroccan weddings are known for their fashion show of traditional, colourful kaftans. Wedding can last several days, giving guests the opportunity to show-off their entire collection of the full-length, elegant coat-like garment. Brides are known to change their kaftans several times on the day of the ceremony alone. For Lebanese wedding celebrations, it’s common to host a traditional dance group that performs zaffe, a cultural dance to usher the couple into the wedding hall. Then, in Saudi Arabia you’ll find something completely different as gender segregation is a norm, men and women celebrate separately.
From the Arab region there are also many culture-specific practices. Amongst the Lebanese there is a curious tradition in which brides affix a piece of dough to the door of their new home. If it remains attached, that bodes well for the marriage. Moroccan couples will break a henna-painted egg on their wedding night to expel evil forces and bless their new home.
If you’re based in the UAE and want to host a traditional wedding based on the cultural practices of your home country, get in touch with us at info@wedoevents.ae, where we specialise in multicultural event planning!
Image Credits
Photo by Dimitri Kuliuk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-newlywed-in-paris-1486101/
Photo by Taqnia Creative Studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-a-tiramisu-with-a-blackberry-4861852/
Photo by 𝖆𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖆𝖏𝖎𝖒𝖆𝖑 𝕱𝖆𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝕾𝖙𝖞𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-traditional-wedding-clothing-12779723/
Photo by Chahal Saab: https://www.pexels.com/photo/fashion-love-people-woman-14819965/
Photo by Zakaria HANIF: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-green-and-gold-floral-sari-14547414/
Photo by Min An: https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-person-standing-near-assorted-color-paper-lanterns-1313814/
Photo by Rezoana Amin Rayna: https://www.pexels.com/photo/beautiful-woman-in-red-and-gold-sari-9333036/