Scandinavian weddings Heather Ruffel

The Engagement In most of the Scandinavian traditions they believe not to rush into marriage. Most engagements would last 3 to 4 years. This is done so that the couple can get to know each other, and see each other thru the good and bad times that life can bring.

Denmark before the wedding Before the wedding vows there is an arch made of out pine branches that is called the gates of honor. This is put in front of the brides house. The gate of honor would be attached to the front door or to the left of the front pathway.

The Danish reception During the reception the groom leaves the bride. At that time all the single men kiss the bride on the cheek. When the groom comes back the bride will leave for a little bit and all the single girls go and kiss the groom. At the end of the night all the guests circle the groom and start to get closer by dancing around him. When they get close enough they cut his tie and his socks with scissors.

Finland pre-wedding traditionally the bride to be walks around the town with a pillow case to collect her gifts. There is an old married man will go with her that carries an umbrella to cover her. this symbolizes the shelter/ protection for the new bride.

Finland wedding reception During the wedding the bride would wear a gold crown. At the reception she would be blindfolded and she will dance around single females. She will then take off her crown and place it on one of the girls heads. That girl would be the next to get married. One of the ways to see how many children the could would have is after the wedding the guests would throw rice at the bride and groom. The number of rice that was stuck in the brides hair would be the number of children. The last dance is called the weaning dance. That is usually a waltz. The girls will dance with the bride and the men with the groom. Everyone dances just for a few moments with the bride/groom. This is meant to be funny because it is a test to see how quickly the married couple forgets about each other.

Iceland traditions The event will last a week. They have to publicly announce the engagement 3 times. Brides church then grooms church and then the church where they will get married. The wedding would start one day before the actual ceremony. This will be a lot of drinking, singing, toasts. Wedding is usually on Sunday. Before the ceremony ended, the bridesmaids would take the bride to her bridal bed and undress her, leaving her wearing only her bridal headdress. It was customary for the groom to present his bride with a gift on the bridal bed. Today it is also common for the bride to present the groom with a wedding-bed gift. Traditionally the bride would be waiting for her new husband wearing only her bridal headdress, which her new husband would remove. Once the couple were in bed together the priest would bless them one last time and the couple would drink from the bridal cups to seal their marriage.

Norway wedding tradition The groom would wear a hand-made woolen suit, short pants and stockings that come up to the calf, and a vest and topcoat. The groomsmen would wear the same. The bride would wear a white or silver wedding gown. She would also wear a silver or silver and gold crown with small spoon shaped bangles dangling from it. When the bride walked the bangles would make a sound that would ward off any evil spirit. At the reception the bride would dance vigorously to scare off any other evil spirits. The bridesmaids would wear a similar dress to the bride to confuse the evil spirit and to protect the bride. The bride and groom would exchange the rings which were silver or gold and then the traditional kiss.

Norway cont. The reception would have many speeches from the guests and family to wish the couple happiness. The last touch of the wedding would be that there would be to small fir trees planted on each side of the door of the couples house to symbolize the children in the future.

Swedish traditions It is tradition that before the bride leaves her families house to go to the ceremony that the mother gives the bride a gold coin to be placed in her right shoe and her father gives her a silver coin to be placed in her left shoe. This is to symbolize that she will never go without wealth. The bride also wears a silver or gold crown. It is known that when the bride and groom enter the church whoever steps first into the church will control the marriage. If the groom is waiting at the alter then whoever says “I do” the loudest will control the marriage. After the wedding vows the couple will exchange the rings. The bride will wear 3 rings on her finger. The first is her engagement ring. The second is her wedding band. The third is a ring for motherhood.

Crowns and cakes!!!! Kransekake

sources http://www.brideandbeyond.com/hmore.php?id=14 http://www.gailwatsoncake.com/tips/traditions2.html http://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/locations/scandinavian_traditions.html http://my.bridestuff.com/traditions/worldwide.asp