Games, humour and mock resistance
Blocking the gate, stealing the shoes, the pranks and the teasing between the two families.
Wedding games are the part where families tease each other. The blocked gate, the stolen shoes, the water thrown at the groom and the prank on the best man all give the two sides a way to test one another, loosen the formal day and make a memory.
Blocking and bargaining
At a North Indian wedding the bride's sisters hide the groom's shoes in the joota chupai game, and he must pay to get them back. In China the bridal party at the door may require the groom to complete tasks, answer questions or hand over red packets before he can see the bride. In Nigeria and Ghana the groom's party may pay to enter, and in Korea the friends of the groom, the hamjinabi, carry a box of gifts and are made to perform before the bride's family opens the door. In Egypt and Lebanon playful blocking of the road occurs.
Pranks
In Scotland the bride may be blackened, and in Germany the Polterabend is the evening when friends smash crockery at the door to bring luck, while a couple sweeps it up together. In France the groom may be made to drink from a chamber pot of champagne and chocolate, the soupe a la grimace. In Wales the cwtch and the stealing of the bride are old jokes. These customs are meant to be kind, and they are changing as families set limits.
What play does
Mock resistance acts out the real idea that the bride's family is giving someone precious. By making the groom work and laugh, it says that he is welcome and that he is accountable. It also lets young relatives play a role in a ceremony otherwise run by elders.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Background on Games, humour and mock resistance (kind of custom). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇲🇰 Galičnik, North MacedoniaGaličnik Wedding FestivalГаличка свадба (Galička svadba)
A recreated traditional wedding in a North Macedonian village that turns a local rite into an annual festival.Feast custom · The ceremony
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan and 1 moreKyz kuu
A horse race where a man chases a woman to win a kiss or faces her whip if he failsPlay · Engagement and betrothal
🇪🇬 Cairo, EgyptTahtibتحطيب (taḥṭīb)
A traditional Egyptian stick-fighting martial art that evolved into a folk dance performed at weddings and celebrations.Performance · The weeks before
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreLa víbora de la mar
A wedding game where the couple stands on chairs while guests form a snake to test their unity.Play · Reception, dance and gifts
🇮🇳 IndiaSvayamvaraस्वयंवर
The ancient Hindu ceremony where a princess picks her husband from assembled suitorsBetrothal · Finding a match
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreChinese wedding door games堵门游戏 (dǔmén yóuxì)
Challenges set by bridesmaids for the groom at the bride's home to prove his devotion.Play · Engagement and betrothal
🇬🇧 United KingdomBlackening
A messy pre-wedding prank where friends cover the couple in sticky substances and parade them through town.Play · The weeks before
🇫🇷 FranceGarter toss
The groom removes the bride's garter and tosses it to unmarried men at the reception.Play · Reception, dance and gifts
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Garter toss: MorningTea, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Svayamvara: Nandalal Bose, Public domain, source
- Tahtib: Yasser Elrasoul, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Galičnik Wedding Festival: IvanaKrstik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kyz kuu: SSGT JEREMY T. LOCK, Public domain, source
- Chinese wedding door games: elfgoh, CC BY-SA 2.0, source