Ethnic Wedding Traditions

We talked about age old popular wedding traditions of the western world last time. How about taking a look into other wedding traditions that are commonly observed by different ethnic groups? With globalization and the constant migration of people across borders today, it should come as no surprise that various ethnic traditions are being observed in different parts of the world. In the US alone, there are countless ethnic groups. Whether or not you are part of an ethnic group, it would be an interesting thing to know a little bit more about their wedding traditions. Who knows, you just might pick up an idea or two?

Before we go on, I was just thinking about how weddings seem to make people want to find something of the more spiritual nature. For couples who practice a religion or part of an ethnic group, they normally do not have any problem with deciding on the type of ceremony they will have. Yet even couples who do not practice any religion or are not part of an ethnic group seem to want to have a religious or ethnic twist to their wedding. So again, read on and take a look at the options available to you.

African-American
Perhaps the most popular tradition for African-Americans today is Jumping the Broom. This originates from the time when slavery still existed and the slaves were forbidden to marry. Jumping the broom was their way of expressing their commitment to one another. Today, most African-Americans follow the western wedding traditions but many are incorporating this tradition from their heritage.

Chinese
One Chinese wedding tradition that is quite easy to incorporate in a wedding is to drink from goblets with wine and honey. Jujubes – something like date – are then fed to the bride. This is supposed to give her more chances of having a son.

Jewish
The Jewish culture is perhaps one of the most diverse and richest cultures. Within the wide term of “Jewish culture” there so many other sub-cultures that are encompassed. For Orthodox Jews, the groom puts a veil on his bride to signify that they are betrothed. This occurs in a ceremony before the actually wedding. During the wedding, the vows are to be said under a canopy. Then the groom places a plain gold band on his wife’s right hand. At the end of the ceremony, the Seven Blessings are read. The groom then breaks a wine glass on his heels. This symbolizes all the catastrophes that the Jewish nation has undergone throughout the ages.

Native American
The Native American culture is again very diverse, with a lot of wedding traditions. One beautiful tradition is for both the bride and the groom to wear a lot of turquoise and silver jewelry during the ceremony. This is supposed to ward off evil and bad luck. Add to that the aesthetic value of the jewelry and you have a wonderful wedding tradition!

As you can see this is just a small sampling of wedding traditions that you can incorporate into your own wedding. You can choose what interests you and make your own ceremony as unique as can be!
[tags]weddings, ceremonies, traditions, ethnic groups, ethnic traditions[/tags]