German Wedding Traditions
German Culture abounds in specific customs and traditions. People from all over the world are interested in this aspect of German traditions. Traditions mean integration. People create their own customs and rituals in their strong drive to build community around themselves, such as celebrating certain occasions, cooking definite dishes for some holidays, wearing certain clothes on different occasions, setting up fan clubs, organizing sports sections, etc.
Germans respect and love their traditions and maintain them through time and distances. Foreigners travel to Germany and marry there, Germans living abroad wish to get married in accordance with their native rituals, so it is high time to get brides and grooms acquainted with what they will have to do on their German-like Hochzeit (wedding).
There are some typical German wedding traditions:
It is a rule to choose a "special" place for the wedding, rather than the general rule in America of always having the wedding at the bride's family church;
Bride should carry salt and bread as an omen for good harvest, and the groom - grain for good luck and wealth!
A Car Procession - usually after the wedding the wedding guests and wedding party form a car procession drive through town honking their horns - others honk back wishing the couple good luck. I
believe that many people practice that here in the United States.
Who pays for the wedding? - Well custom is that the father of the bride has to pay the wedding.
Dance - the first dance is always just for the bride and the groom, (this is a common tradition in many
countries) and it is traditionally a waltz. The next dance is usually reserved for only for bride with her father and groom with mother, while bride's mother dances with groom's father.
First Night - to make the first night as difficult as possible, friends of the couple do lots of funny or sometimes cruel things. They fill up the rooms with balloons, hide lots of alarm clocks in the bedroom, take apart the bed, and so on. I can remember
in my younger years putting powdered sugar
between the sheets of the bed in the the hotel
sweet for an unexpecting couple.
Flowers - They have a little different tradition
and that is to decorate the hood of the wedding car with lots of flowers.
Junggesellenabschied - basically a bachelor party that takes place a few days before the wedding. The groom to be and his male friends go to a pub or sometimes other places to drink and have fun.
Kidnapping of the bride - In some rural areas of Germany friends of the couple kidnap the
bride-to-be and the poor groom has to find her. Normally, he has to search in a lot of pubs and can end up having to pay alot of pub tabs for other people.
Polterabend - This would be one of my favorites, but difficult to do in a Leavenworth restaurant. This is a very casual party the evening before the wedding where after dinner the plates and dishes are smashed (the broken pieces are thought to bring good luck to the bride). The bride and groom are
then left to clean up everything by themselves.
Rice - When the newly married couple leaves the church, friends throw rice on them and it is said that they will get as many children as rice grains stay in the hair of the bride. This is really a common tradition
in the United States.
Veil Dance - Every woman or man who would like
to dance with the groom or bride, must pay for
the dance. Nice way to start the couple out.
Wedding Cake - This is usually a very large cake with lots of ornaments and tokens. The cake must
cut by the bride and the groom holding the knife together.
Wedding Evening - On the evening of the
wedding many games are played by the guests. Speeches/toasts are given and the first normally from the father of the bride. A special wedding newspaper maybe handed out.
Songs are sung, and it's a very festive night.
White Ribbon - The bride to be has pieces
of white ribbon attached to her bouquet, and
as guests are leaving the church, the newly
married bride hands each driver a ribbon
that they tie to the radio antenna. This of
course ties in with the car procession.
Wedding Rings - Traditionally Germans
wear their wedding rings on the right hand
The groom and the bride have identical
wedding bands with no diamonds. Most
brides in our country love diamond wedding
rings and bands.
Wedding Shoes - A family tradition is to
collect pennies for years for a girl and buy
the wedding shoes the bride wears for
her wedding with these pennies.
