No celebration is kept in more ways than the wedding.
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No celebration is kept in more ways than the wedding. It may last an hour or a fortnight, take place in a temple, a church, a tent or a town hall, and involve dozens of rites: a bride's henna, a groom's procession, a tea ceremony for the parents, a seven-step walk around a fire, a broken glass, a ring, a veil, a dance. Underneath the variety, the purpose is the same: two people become a couple and two families are joined, before witnesses. Here is how weddings are celebrated in many countries, what the customs mean to those who keep them and how they are changing in a connected world.
A wedding makes a marriage public and recognised by family, faith and law. It joins two households, often with an exchange of gifts, vows and blessings. It also marks a change of status for the couple and a new stage for their parents. Many traditions treat the wedding as a sacrament or a sacred contract, and many have rules about who may marry. For the community, the wedding is the great party, an occasion of music, food and dance, and a chance for everyone to give good wishes and, often, practical help.
Common features include a betrothal or engagement, an exchange of rings, garlands, cups or vows, a blessing by a priest, officiant or elders, a procession, a witness, a feast and music. Preparation rites for the bride and groom, such as henna, a bath, haircuts and blessings, take place on days before. Gifts of money, gold, household items or land are exchanged in many cultures. Dress is the most visible element: red in China and India, white in the West, gold in Africa and the Middle East. The wedding night and the first days of married life are also marked.
Wedding feasts are often the largest meal a family gives: biryani and sweets in South Asia, banquets of fish, noodles and soup in China, whole roast lamb in the Middle East, jollof rice in West Africa, cake in Europe. Dress is rich and symbolic, from the sari, qipao and kimono to the white gown, the suit and the kente cloth. Music is central, with drums and horns for a baraat, a band for a Western reception, folk song and group dances. A first dance, a hora and a Greek plate smashing are among the best loved.
Weddings are becoming more personal, mixing traditions of the two families and often those of different faiths and countries. Destination weddings, small gatherings, same-sex marriages, civil ceremonies and online guests have become common. Costs are an issue in many places, and some governments and communities have asked for simpler celebrations. At the same time, many couples are choosing to bring back old crafts, such as handwoven cloth, family jewellery and traditional music, wanting a wedding that feels rooted. The core remains: vows made before the people they love.
A Hindu wedding may include a sangeet, a mehndi night, a baraat procession with the groom on a horse, and the saptapadi, seven steps around the sacred fire. The bride wears red or another rich colour, with gold and a mangalsutra.
Read: Hindu weddingThe nikah is the Muslim contract, followed by the mehndi, the barat, and the valima feast hosted by the groom's family. Brides wear red or gold gharara or lehenga and heavy jewellery.
Read: Pakistani weddingThe bride wears red, a tea ceremony shows respect to parents, and guests give money in red envelopes at the banquet. The date is chosen by an almanac, and there are door-games where the groom must win entry.
Read: Traditional Chinese marriageA Shinto wedding has a bride in a white kimono, shiromuku, a sharing of sake in the san-san-kudo ritual and a banquet. Many couples also hold a Western-style ceremony.
Marriage in Japan, being writtenThe traditional pyebaek ceremony has the bride bow to the groom's parents, who throw dates and chestnuts into her skirt, wishing her many children. The couple wear hanbok.
Read: Marriage in KoreaWeddings include sponsors, ninongs and ninangs, a cord and a veil binding the couple, coins given to the bride and the money dance. A wedding feast of lechon is typical.
Read: Filipino wedding customs
Hindu weddingSaptapadi and the sacred fire.
Traditional Chinese marriageRed, tea and banquet.
Islamic marriageThe Muslim marriage contract.
Jumping the broomAn African American custom.
Marriage in KoreaPyebaek and hanbok.Also part of it, and being written: Jewish wedding (The chuppah and broken glass.), Henna (Mehndi for brides.), Wedding (The general practice.).
White became fashionable after Queen Victoria wore it at her wedding in 1840. Before then brides wore their best dress in any colour, and in many cultures red or gold remains the choice.
A lively procession of the groom and his family to the wedding venue, with music, dancing and often a horse, common in North Indian and Pakistani weddings.
Because the events include several families and many rites over days, from engagement and henna to the ceremony and homecoming. Each one has its own meaning and its own celebration.
Dress smartly and follow the cultural or religious guidance. Avoid white at a Western wedding, black at some Asian ones, and cover shoulders and head in many places of worship.
In many countries families still take part in finding a partner, but most couples today have a say in the choice, and matchmaking sites and events have joined older methods.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
The traditions written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreShehnai
A traditional reed instrument played at weddings and temple festivals across IndiaPerformance
🇹🇴 TongaTauʻolunga
A Tongan dance of hand gestures and steady eyes, performed by young women at weddingsPerformance
🇳🇪 In-Gall, NigerCure Salée
A yearly gathering of Tuareg and Wodaabe nomads in In-Gall to mark the end of the rainy season.Festival
🇱🇻 LatviaDaina
Short, traditional Latvian folk songs and verses sung across the human life cyclePerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAkhand Pathਅਖੰਡ ਪਾਠ
The unbroken, continuous reading of the entire Sikh scripture over two daysSpiritual
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, Georgia and 4 moreGeorgian polyphonic singing
Several voices at once, sung without instruments at Georgian feasts and weddingsPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaSaptapadiसप्तपदी (Sanskrit), सात फेरे (Marathi)
The seven-step ritual that finalizes a Hindu marriage, observed across India.Rite of passage
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreIslamic marriageنِكَاح
The sacred contract, agreement and wedding celebration forming an Islamic marriageRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreZaffaزفّة
A musical wedding procession common in Arab cultures, featuring music and dancing.Festival
🇮🇶 IraqMudhifالمضيف
A traditional reed guest house kept by the Ahwari people of southern Iraq for ceremonies and hospitality.Home
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaGeorgian danceქართული ცეკვა
Martial, courtship, and celebratory regional dances from across GeorgiaPerformance
🇺🇬 Uganda and 4 moreBarkcloth
Cloth beaten from tree bark across Africa, Asia and the PacificCraft
🇮🇩 North Sumatra, IndonesiaUlosᯥᯞᯘᯬ᯲
A hand-woven textile of the Batak people in Indonesia, worn for warmth and ceremony.Dress
🇮🇷 Isfahan, Iran and 3 morePersian gardenباغ ایرانی
An ancient tradition of creating walled, geometric sanctuaries of shade and flowing waterCraft
🇺🇬 UgandaKwanjula
A formal marriage introduction ritual of the Baganda people in Uganda, where families meet to exchange gifts and seek blRite of passage
🇳🇿 New ZealandTivaevaetīvaevae
A traditional Polynesian art of artistic quilting made by women for gifts and ceremonies.Craft
🇸🇦 Saudi ArabiaArdahالعرضة
A traditional Arabian group dance of facing lines, drums, poetry, and swordsPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePhulkariਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ
Geometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.Craft
🇲🇱 MaliMahrمهر
A mandatory gift from the groom to the bride in Islamic marriages, serving as her financial security.Rite of passage
🇲🇦 MoroccoChaabiشعبي
A North African music and dance tradition meaning 'of the people', played at weddings and festivals.Performance
🇿🇦 Johannesburg, South Africa and 1 moreLobolo
A customary practice in Southern Africa where the groom's family provides assets to the bride's family.Rite of passage
🇮🇳 IndiaWarli painting
Sacred white rice paste murals made on red clay walls in western IndiaCraft
🇫🇯 FijiTabua
A polished sperm whale tooth traded as a sacred gift in Fijian ceremonies and negotiations.Ceremony
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreLion dance舞獅
A dynamic ritual dance featuring costumed lions, drums and martial acrobaticsPerformance
🇹🇱 Timor-LesteUma Lulik
Sacred ancestral clan houses and ritual shrines in East TimorSpiritual
🇹🇷 Samsun, TurkeyHoronχορόν
Line dances of Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast, danced with shaking shouldersPerformance
🇻🇳 Huế, VietnamNón lá𥶄蘿
A pointed leaf and bamboo hat worn across Vietnam for shelter, work and celebrationDress
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreAttanاتڼ
A Pashtun circle dance of drums and clapping, kept at weddings and gatherings.Performance
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreRushnykрушник
A sacred embroidered cloth used in East Slavic rituals, weddings and daily life.Dress
🇲🇦 Tan-Tan, MoroccoTan-Tan Moussem
An annual gathering of Saharan nomadic tribes with music, trading and equestrian artsFestival
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese knotting中國結 (Zhōngguó jié)
A folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsCraft
🇮🇩 Bali, Indonesia and 5 moreIkat
A resist-dyeing craft from Southeast Asia, where yarns are tied and dyed before weavingCraft
🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandWharenui
A Māori carved communal meeting house at the centre of tribal life in New ZealandHome
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreTush kyizтуш кийиз
An embroidered wall hanging made for a child's wedding in Kyrgyz and Kazakh homesCraft
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreKenduri
A communal prayer meal and gathering shared across Indonesia, Malaysia and BruneiSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇻 TuvaluMusic of Tuvalu
Rhythmic storytelling dances and choral singing from the Polynesian atolls of TuvaluPerformance
🇬🇭 Ghana and 2 moreAgbadza
An Ewe music and dance, born of war songs and kept for funerals, weddings and festivalsPerformance
🇦🇴 Luanda, Angola and 4 moreKizomba
A close, slow couple dance from Angola, named after a Kimbundu word for partyPerformance
🇼🇸 Samoa and 1 moreʻIe tōga
Precious woven mats exchanged in Samoan ceremonies to honor family ties and chiefly status.Dress
🇱🇦 Laos and 1 moreBaciບາສີ (Lao)
A Lao rite that calls the soul home and ties a thread on the wrist for good luckSpiritual
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreMizmarمزمار
A traditional double-reed instrument and drum ensemble for weddings and folk dancesPerformance
🇮🇱 IsraelTallitטלית
A four-cornered Jewish prayer shawl with ritual fringes worn during worshipSpiritual
🇦🇹 Austria and 4 moreDirndl
A fitted dress with apron from the German-speaking Alps, worn for festivals and weddings.Dress
🇮🇳 Ayodhya, India and 5 moreRama Navamiराम नवमी
A Hindu spring festival marking the birth of Rama with prayer, fasting and processionsFestival
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreRite of passage
A ceremony that marks leaving one group and entering another, with a new statusRite of passage
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreQixi Festival七夕
A Chinese night of romance, needlecraft wishes and stargazing for two mythic loversFestival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSaint Stephen's Day
A Christian feast day celebrating the first martyr with feasts, rides and folk customs.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 morePotlatch
A ceremonial feast of gift-giving and wealth distribution among First Nations on the Northwest Coast.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
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