Wedding Customs Continued…

If you enjoyed our post last week about Wedding Customs and Practice from Around the World then you might find these customs interesting as well.

Eritrea – where anyone passing is welcome to attend
And everyone is fashionably (very) late. Women wear traditional colourful gauze dresses and drum and dance outside the church before the wedding. A small wedding is around 400 guests. And the women greet guests by wagging their tongues and trilling. Food involves injera bread and copious dishes, which you then heap onto the injera and eat by tearing pieces of the bread to wrap around the food.

Kosovo – where the bride paints her face to prevent bad luck during the ceremony
The bridal make-up is a work of art. Face paint and sequins are used in incredible patterns that take hours of planning and application and looks stunning. In particular this is a tradition of a little village known as Lubinje, which also has colourful homes. Brides wear a dress that consists of about six layers of traditional handmade costume that looks rather heavy to wear. The bride covers her head with a veil to hide her face until she reaches her grooms house, where she is escorted by horse.

Somalia – where an evening of poetry and singing continues all night
The evening, known as the Gaaf, is but one of three nights spent celebrating the wedding. A lavish feast is part of the reception, where both traditional and modern foods are served. Exchanging gifts is another tradition usually between the bride and groom’s families, and between invited guests and the wedding couple. One of the rituals of a Samali wedding is the Nikah or tying of the knot, and asking for the hand of the pride by the elders of the bridegroom’s family.

Yemen – where there is a dance called the Baraa, or dagger dance
Most Yemenis are Muslim and the tradition and law similar in other Arab countries is followed. However Yemini Arabic is different from other Arabic dialects, and women in Yemen speak a dialect of their own. Weddings happen only on Thursdays and Fridays, during which women chew Qat as well as men, although the marriage contract is usually signed on a Wednesday. Once the contract is signed the father of the bridegroom throws a fistful of raisins on the ground. Weddings have a feast of food that includes traditional sweetened fritters and donuts.