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.
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreWedding reception
The party after a wedding, where the couple greet guests over food, cake and dancingFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 Yining, China and 1 moreMeshrepمەشرەپ
A Uyghur gathering of music, poetry, dance and moral counsel at harvest and weddingsPerformance
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreHenna ceremonyليلة الحناء
A night of henna patterns on a bride's hands and feet, kept before the weddingRite of passage
🇻🇳 Huế, VietnamTraditional Vietnamese wedding
A Vietnamese wedding: two families joined through proposal, engagement and ceremonyRite of passage
🇵🇭 PhilippinesFilipino wedding customsKasalan
A blend of indigenous rituals and Christian traditions marking the union of two families in the Philippines.Rite of passage
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBread and saltхлеб-соль
Bread and salt offered to a guest: a welcome kept from Russia to AlbaniaEtiquette
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese paper cutting剪紙 / 剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ)
Chinese cut paper pictures, pasted on windows and doors for luck at New YearCraft
🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreDhoti
A long unstitched cloth men wrap like trousers, for worship and formal daysDress
🇱🇰 Sri LankaKiribathකිරිබත්
Rice cooked in coconut milk, the dish of Sinhalese New Year and family beginningsTable custom · Breakfast
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreDjellabaجلابة
A long, loose hooded robe worn by men and women across North AfricaDress
🇲🇲 Myanmar and 1 moreLongyiလုံချည်
A tube of cloth worn from waist to feet in Myanmar, folded shut with no knotDress
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreKoloКоло
A South Slavic circle dance of linked hands, kept at weddings and gatheringsPerformance
🇷🇺 RussiaRussian wedding traditions
A Russian wedding runs two days to a week, with ransom games, crowns and toastsRite of passage
🇦🇲 Armenia and 1 moreKochariՔոչարի
A circle dance from the Armenian Highlands, danced at weddings and gatheringsPerformance
🇮🇳 Srinagar, India and 3 morePashmina
Ultra-fine wool of Himalayan goats, hand-woven in Kashmir into shawls of rankDress
🇮🇷 Urmia, IranKurdish danceGovend (گۆڤەند)
Circle dances of the Kurds, led by handkerchief twirlers, for weddings and NewrozPerformance
🇨🇳 China and 6 moreRed envelope紅包 / 红包 (hóngbāo)
Money in a red packet, given at Lunar New Year, weddings and other big daysEtiquette
🇺🇬 UgandaGomesi
A floor-length, brightly coloured dress tied with a sash, worn by women in UgandaDress
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 morePolterabend
Guests smash porcelain the night before a wedding to wish the couple luckRite of passage
🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreWedding cord
A loop of white cord laid over a kneeling bride and groom in Catholic weddingsRite of passage
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी
An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreTracht
Traditional dress of the German-speaking regions, from lederhosen to the dirndlDress
🇭🇷 Zagreb, Croatia and 1 moreLicitarlicitarska srca
A hand-painted honey biscuit given as a gift at weddings and on Valentine's DayCraft · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 Bhuj, India and 1 moreBandhani
Tie-dye cloth from India, knotted by hand and dipped in dye to leave dot patternsCraft
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKimono着物
Japan's national dress: a wrapped robe with square sleeves, tied with a wide sashDress
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 morePyebaek폐백
A Korean wedding rite where newlyweds bow to elders and share dates, chestnuts and wineRite of passage
🇪🇹 EthiopiaWedding customs in Ethiopia
Weddings across Ethiopia's many peoples, arranged by families and sealed in local ritesRite of passage
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShinto wedding神前結婚
A short purification ceremony before the kami, sealed by three cups of sakeRite of passage
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaTumpengꦠꦸꦩ꧀ꦥꦼꦁ (Javanese); ᬢᬸᬫ᭄ᬧᭂᬂ (Balinese)
A tall cone of rice ringed with side dishes, central to Javanese ceremonies and partiesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇦 UkraineTraditional Ukrainian wedding
A wedding spread over many days, with matchmaking, bread, wreaths and songRite of passage
🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria and 2 moreAso ebiAsọ-Ẹbí
Matching cloth worn by family and friends at Yoruba weddings, funerals and partiesDress
🇮🇩 Palembang, Indonesia and 3 moreSongketᬲᭀᬂᬓᬾᬢ᭄
A hand-woven cloth threaded with gold or silver, worn at weddings and royal courtsDress
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian embroideryвишивка (vyshyvka)
A stitched folk art of Ukraine, worked into shirts, cloths and church furnishingsCraft
🇮🇷 Tehran, IranIranian weddingمراسم عروسی در ایران
A wedding with courtship visits, a henna night and a spread of symbols, kept across IranRite of passage
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKolamகோலம்
A rice-flour floor drawing made at South Indian doorsteps before sunriseCraft
🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreMarriage in Korea
Weddings in Korea, from Goryeo matchmaking to Confucian rites and modern chapel vowsRite of passage
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePujaपूजा (pūjā)
Hindu worship: light, flowers and food offered to a deity or a guestSpiritual
🇨🇳 ChinaTraditional Chinese marriage婚姻 (hūnyīn)
A wedding rite that joins two families, arranged by a go-between and sealed with giftsRite of passage
🇮🇳 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
🇵🇰 PakistanPakistani weddingپاکستانی شادی
Weddings across Pakistan: a match is found, a contract signed, two families joinedRite of passage
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreYajnaयज्ञ
A Hindu ritual of offering items into a sacred fire to honor deities and ancestors.Spiritual
🇸🇬 Singapore and 3 moreMatchmaking
The custom of using a trusted intermediary to introduce partners for marriageRite of passage
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreLibation
The ceremonial gift of drink given to deities, ancestors, and the earthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreMarriage proposal
A ritual where one partner asks another to marry them, marking the start of engagement.Rite of passage
🇬🇷 Olympia, GreeceHeraean Games
An ancient Greek festival of running races for unmarried young women at OlympiaGame
🇨🇳 ChinaKowtow叩頭
A traditional Chinese prostration of deep respect by kneeling and bowing to the groundEtiquette
🇮🇳 IndiaSvayamvaraस्वयंवर
An ancient Indian noble assembly where a bride chose her husband among suitorsRite of passage
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
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