Weddings are some of the universally celebrated customs. However, different cultures celebrate weddings differently.  An article by Coleman Derek in Associated Press news looks at some of the wildest wedding traditions. There are various weddings traditions celebrated all over the world. One of the most common traditions is that of the bride wearing white; this tradition originated from the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the 1800s . Another common practice is that of the bride throwing her bouquet to her unmarried friends; this tradition began in medieval times where it was believed that taking or stealing something from the bride signified good luck. However, stealing something from the bride seemed embarrassing, and that is why brides throw their bouquets instead.

The traditions about the white dress and the bouquet are widespread. However, there are other wedding traditions that are borderline embarrassing or plainly weird. For example, in Germany, there is a tradition called polterabend, whereby the bride, the groom, and their friends go out on the night before the wedding to celebrate. Everyone comes with objects made of porcelain, which they then break in front of the bride’s house to bring good luck to the marriage. The happy couple then gets to clean the mess. Another German tradition is baumstamm sagen which occurs immediately after the wedding ceremony. During the baumstamm sagen, the bride and the groom are usually in their wedding attire, and the bride and groom cut a log in half using a two-handed saw. Cutting the into half using a two-handed saw shows the bride and groom that they are supposed to work together in order to get through life. South Korea has one of the wildest traditions whereby it is believed that in order to prepare the groom for marriage, his feet have to be hit with a dead fish and bamboo sticks.

Another weird custom is the Spanish tradition of cutting the groom’s tie. After a Spanish wedding, the groom’s friends surround him, cut off his tie and cut it into pieces. The pieces of the tie are then auctioned. The tie pieces are believed to bring good luck, and the money collected is given to the newlyweds. In Greece, in the morning, before the wedding, the groom’s friends shave his face while the bride’s mum feeds him snacks made of almonds and honey. In rural Scotland, there is a tradition called blackening the bride whereby days before the wedding, the bride’s friends take her away and cover her with various sticky things such as sour milk, fish oil, beer, feathers, and tar. In some instances, the bride is tied to a tree. The Scotland tradition about doing terrible things shows that if the bride can put up with those things, she can put up with anything in her marriage.

The above-mentioned traditions are just but a few of some of the weird wedding traditions. Cultures all over the world have some weird customs or traditions which are believed to bring good luck. While they might be assumed to bring good luck, some of these traditions are too weird and wild.