test nº 1245

Smelling Sweet
Swedish brides wear crowns of myrtle blossoms, signifying purity, fidelity, virginity and good luck. Myrtle is also a common bloom used in wedding bouquets all over the United Kingdom, beginning with Queen Victoria’s daughter carrying a bouquet of myrtle at her royal wedding in 1858.

Growing Love
Planting trees is an important wedding ritual in Europe. In Germany, a group of trees is planted upon the birth of a little girl, so that by the time she is ready to wed the trees are full-grown and can be sold for timber to help pay for the wedding. In the Czech Republic, a tree is planted at the time of a wedding and then decorated with colored string and painted eggshells; according to legend, the bride will live as long as the tree.

Horns of Jealousy
Many brides dream of wearing white on their special day, but in Japan, brides take it even further. In ceremonies held in traditional Shinto shrines, brides are painted pure white from head to toe and don white kimonos and elaborate white headpieces. The white hood is intended to hide her “horns of jealousy” and display her wish to become an obedient, gentle, and devoted wife to her husband.

Trying It All
One happy couple wasn’t content with just one wedding, they wanted to try them all! The couple behind the “2 People 1 Life” wedding blog spent five years traveling the globe, getting married according to local customs in over 71 ceremonies in 65 different countries on five different continents. They’re now working as global wedding consultants, helping couples bring a bit of exotic flair to their own ceremony.

Looking for a way to keep the love alive? Check out our couples challenges at www.couplestrong.com.

Be CoupleStrong.
Chris & Lori Cambas

A Colorful Shower
Italian couples can expect to be showered with brightly-colored bits of paper called coriandoli at their wedding celebrations. The word confetti comes from this practice—confetti refers to sugared almonds or candies that were once thrown at these celebrations. This was an expensive and somewhat wasteful practice however, and in 1875 a clever merchant in Milan began selling tiny colored paper discs for this purpose—the discs were byproducts of the holed sheets of paper used as bedding for silkworms in silk production. The paper discs caught on as they were cheaper and more fun, and presumably it was less annoying to be showered with colored paper than hit by sugared almonds.

Two Bouquets
Brides in Mexico sometimes carry two bouquets down the aisle at their weddings: one for themselves, and one as an offering to the Virgin Mary, so that she may bless the marriage.

Sawing Logs
At weddings in Germany, brides and grooms start working together before the reception is even over. Cutting a log represents overcoming the first obstacle a couple will encounter in their marriage, so using a long two-handled saw, the couple saws through a log together to demonstrate their teamwork and commitment to solving problems. Presumably the brides don’t mind getting sawdust all over the hems of their dresses.

Cookie Cake
Norway has its own version of the tiered wedding cake: the kransekake! A kransekake is made by stacking a series of ring shaped almond cookies, decreasing in size, to form a circular tiered pyramid of almondy goodness, traditionally decorated with icing and little Norwegian flags. The top layer is for the bride and groom and they break the other rings for their guests instead of slicing. The cookies can be stacked over a wine bottle, revealing a nice treat for guests after they devour the cookie rings.

Tied Together
Weddings in the Philippines unite couples both figuratively and literally. Filipino couples are draped with a cord called a yugal, which is looped around the couple to form a figure eight (or an infinity sign) symbolizing their everlasting fidelity to each other.

Cupid’s Bow and Arrow
In the Yugur ethnic group in China, grooms must shoot their bride three times with a bow and arrow before they can wed—thankfully, the arrowhead is removed from the arrow before the groom takes aim. The groom then breaks the arrow in half, ensuring that the bonds of love can’t be broken.

Ring of Flowers
Pakistani weddings feature a very sweet-smelling tradition: the groom wears a ring of flowers around his neck during the ceremony. Before the ceremony, there are days of feasts and exchanging gifts, and after the wedding, there is an elaborate reception that can take days, wherein men and women dine in separate sections of a tent.

Be CoupleStrong.
Chris & Lori Cambas

test 101

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