Wedding rites are a very common activity in human society. Every society has its unique way of organizing weddings. Most of them are based on the human common sense of judging what a marriage ceremony should be like. Nonetheless, there are practices associated with weddings across the globe that are rather weird. A glance through the following list of 10 odd wedding rites around the world will show you what we mean.
Odd Wedding Rites Of The World
1. Scotland’s Blackening of the Couple
Imagine the most disgusting things in the world: you got it? Alright then, how would you love your friends making a mess of you on your wedding day by tying you to a tree and throwing all those disgusting things at you? What you feel is totally inconsequential, the marital humiliating rite is typical of certain Scottish communities and it is only fair for it to take its course. At best, what the couple can do is endure the humiliation.
This wedding rite is usually performed a few days and in some cases weeks leading to the marriage.
2. Hold it in – Tidong’s Temporary Bathroom Prohibition
The Tidong communities spread across Indonesia and Malaysia. It is known that this tribe has a wedding rite that requires newly married couples to stay indoors without emptying their bowels or urinary for three consecutive days and nights. It is called ‘Bonding time’.
Essentially, the couple is monitored and given little to eat and drink for the three days they stay indoors. They normally regain their freedom to use the bathroom and move freely at the end of the third day. It is believed that observing this tradition would ensure a happy marriage for the couple and get rid of any misfortune they may have been fated to encounter in the marriage.
3. Maasai Mucous
We’ve mentioned in a previous piece that Tanzania and Kenya are home to the people of Massai and that they have a thing for spitting. They spit on their newborns and spit to greet. You can check out the piece here https://oddybugs.com/strange-african-cultures/.
Considering that, it wasn’t much of a surprise to us when we uncovered that the father of a Massai bride is expected to spit on his daughter’s breasts and head before she leaves to start her new home with her husband. From what we gathered, it is a way of conferring blessings on the marriage.
4. Sweden’s Kiss Stealing from the Couple
If you don’t want your spouse to be kissed, then don’t leave the wedding room. In Sweden, it is totally acceptable for any and everyone to kiss a partner at the wedding ceremony as long as the other partner isn’t around. Let’s assume the groom for whatever reason stepped out of the wedding venue, it is a chance for all the males in attendance to lock lips with the bride. If it’s the bride that’s away, the females in attendance can equally kiss the groom as much as they want.
5. Wedding Is a No-laughter Business in Congo
It is often said that the perfect way to ruin someone’s wedding in Congo is to bring a clown to entertain the gathering. For these guys, marriage is a very serious business and the couple ought not to be smiling about it.
Therefore whenever is laughter, it means the couple is not serious or happy about their wedding.
6. Kidnapping The Bride
This is practiced in many countries throughout Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, it is said that this tradition engenders several activities that lead to women being raped and/or forced into marriage, especially in nations like Rwanda. Too bad, no one should be married this way.
7. Mothering Assistance
Apparently, this tradition is common among a handful of communities in Africa. As it is widely expected that a bride must not have been sexually active, an older woman is appointed to go in with the newlywed, guide them through, and ensure that the marriage is consummated appropriately.
8. German’s Polterabend
In some countries, the guest brings the bride and groom new dishes as gifts. In Germany, the guests do the same and then they smash them. This is done with the belief that the noise will scare away evil spirits. Interesting huh?
9. The Human Rug
You stand a chance to witness this if you attend any wedding ceremony in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. Don’t be shocked when all the relatives of the bride make of themselves a human rug for her and her husband to walk on them.
10. France’s Feeding out of a Portable Toilet
It is the responsibility of the friends of the couple to ensure that the newlyweds have the zeal to consummate their marriage as soon as possible in France. To perform this task, they would gather the leftover food and drinks in a chamber pot (portable toilet), barge into the couple’s room, and force them to feed out of the toilet.
