WEB CHUTNEY

Marriage is a celebration of love and togetherness for the couple, their family and friends. Here’s a collection of some of the most bizarre wedding traditions from around the world:

1. Smashing dishes

In Germany the guests bring the bride and groom new dishes as gifts and then the couple smashes them. Supposedly the noise scares away evil spirits.

2. Marrying a Tree

In parts of India, some women are assumed to be cursed and would cause their husbands to die an early death. To break the curse they must first be married to a tree which will then be cut down. Does that mean the trees in India will die and early death?

3. The Blackening of the Bride

In Scottish weddings friends and family tie the bride up to a tree and dump disgusting things on her until the wedding. If she can endure this, she can endure the hardships of marriage. This is just the beginning, darling!

4. Spit on the bride

In a particular Kenyan tribe, the father of the bride blesses his daughter by spitting on her head and breasts. Doesn’t sound like a good idea.

5. Don’t go the bathroom

For tribes of the Tidong community in Northern Borneo newly married couples are required to be confined to their house while not emptying their bowels or urinating for three days and nights.

6. Whale teeth

In Fiji, men have to find an unusual gift before they can ask for a woman’s hand in marriage. The groom must present his father-in-law with a whale’s tooth.

7. Being Fat

In Mauritania, it is customary for the bride to get as fat as possible before the wedding because a large, full-bodied wife is said to signify good luck and prosperity in a marriage. Fat is good, at least somewhere!

8. No laughing or smiling

In Congo, because the marriage has to be taken seriously, the bride and groom are not allowed to smile throughout the entire ceremony.

9. Fish feet

After the wedding is over in Korea, it is tradition for the groom to have his feet beaten with fish to prepare him for his first night of marriage. If you don’t see the connection, you’re not alone.

10. Have two babies

11. Kissing party

In Sweden, whenever either the bride or groom leaves their table to use the bathroom the other gets kissed…a lot. If the groom has to go then every male in the reception will get a chance to kiss the bride and vice versa. What if the groom has to pee really bad?

12. Elderly woman accompanies the couple

Mothers or elders in certain African tribes accompany the newlyweds to ‘educate’ them on how to spend the night. A W K W A R D!