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.
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePhulkariਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ
Geometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.Craft
🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreDhoti
A long unstitched cloth men wrap like trousers, for worship and formal daysDress
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी
An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 3 moreSherwani
A long buttoned coat for men, worn at weddings and state occasions in South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 Srinagar, India and 3 morePashmina
Ultra-fine wool of Himalayan goats, hand-woven in Kashmir into shawls of rankDress
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreMangalasutraमङ्गलसूत्रम् (maṅgalasūtram)
A necklace tied by the groom at a wedding, worn through married lifeDress
🇮🇳 Bhuj, India and 1 moreBandhani
Tie-dye cloth from India, knotted by hand and dipped in dye to leave dot patternsCraft
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSindoorसिंदूर
A red powder worn in the hair parting by many married Hindu womenDress
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBindi
A dot worn between the eyebrows, red for marriage and devotion, worn daily by many womenDress
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreDhaka topiढाका टोपी
A patterned cotton cap worn across Nepal as part of the national dressDress
🇵🇰 Karachi, PakistanPakistani clothing
Shalwar kameez and its many regional forms, worn across Pakistan's provincesDress
🇮🇳 IndiaIndian wedding clothes
Traditional attire worn by couples and guests during Indian wedding ceremonies across various regions.Dress
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreWedding dress
The dress a bride wears at her wedding, white in the West and often red in the EastDress
🇮🇳 Jammu, India and 1 moreChura
A set of bridal bangles worn across South Asia at weddings and in early marriageDress
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalTraditional Newar clothingनेवार समुदायमा भएको संस्कृति पहिरन
The customary handwoven dress and ceremonial garments of Nepal's Newar peopleDress
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 3 moreDupattaदुपट्टा
A traditional South Asian scarf worn across the shoulders, chest, and headDress
🇮🇳 IndiaMadisarமடிசார் (Tamil)
A nine-yard sari drape kept by Tamil Brahmin women for weddings, puja and mourningDress
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaOsariyaඔසරිය (Sinhala)
Sri Lanka's national dress: a sari with a waist frill and a full blouseDress
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
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