Wedding traditions of Europe
Rice and confetti, the veil and the white dress, Polish oczepiny, Greek koumbaro and the Irish handfast. 206 traditions on EveryShaadi so far.
Countries
๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania 5๐ฆ๐ฉ Andorra 1๐ฆ๐น Austria 12๐ง๐พ Belarus 9๐ง๐ช Belgium 5๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina 2๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria 13๐ญ๐ท Croatia 8๐จ๐ฟ Czechia 4๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark 10๐ช๐ช Estonia 2๐ซ๐ฎ Finland 9๐ซ๐ท France 30๐ฉ๐ช Germany 31๐ฌ๐ท Greece 23๐ญ๐บ Hungary 10๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland 5๐ฎ๐ช Ireland 17๐ฎ๐น Italy 21๐ฝ๐ฐ Kosovo 3๐ฑ๐ป Latvia 3๐ฑ๐ฎ Liechtenstein 2๐ฑ๐น Lithuania 4๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg 1๐ฒ๐น Malta 1๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova 6๐ฒ๐จ Monaco 1๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro 1๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands 15๐ฒ๐ฐ North Macedonia 9๐ณ๐ด Norway 9๐ต๐ฑ Poland 26๐ต๐น Portugal 6๐ท๐ด Romania 13๐ท๐บ Russia 22๐ธ๐ฒ San Marino 0๐ท๐ธ Serbia 12๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia 6๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia 2๐ช๐ธ Spain 15๐ธ๐ช Sweden 11๐จ๐ญ Switzerland 6๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine 19๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom 78๐ป๐ฆ Vatican City 0
Cities and towns
London 7Rome 5Berlin 4Krakรณw 4Vienna 4Crete 3Hamburg 3Madrid 3Amsterdam 2Athens 2Barcelona 2Bern 2Budapest 2Copenhagen 2Dublin 2Edinburgh 2Galway 2Hanover 2
On the calendar
June, the Western wedding monthSeptember and October wedding peakShrovetide, the old Irish wedding time2/22 and other repeated datesLag BaOmer, weddings resumeMay, the month of brides in BrazilKrasnaya Gorka, the first wedding SundayPokrov, the autumn wedding seasonLentHoly Week and the TriduumAdventOrthodox Great Lent
๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine and 2 moreRushnykัััะฝะธะบ (Ukrainian), ัััะฝัะบ (Belarusian), ัััะฝะธะบ/ัััะฝะธะบ (Russian)
The embroidered linen cloth that marks life stages and guides the couple through the wedding ceremony in East Slavic culAdornment ยท The weeks before
๐ฎ๐ช Ireland and 1 moreHandfastingceangal na lรกmh (Irish); pรฒsadh-bliadhna (Scottish Gaelic)
A pledge ceremony where a couple joins hands to make a binding marriage contract or engagement.Rite ยท Engagement and betrothal
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom and 3 moreBedding ceremony
The public ritual of placing the newlyweds in their marital bed to witness and seal the marriage.Rite ยท The ceremony
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom and 2 moreQuaker wedding
A silent ceremony where Friends witness each other's vows without clergy or rigid rituals.Rite ยท The weeks before
๐ฌ๐ง Edinburgh, United KingdomLuckenbooth brooch
A Scottish heart-shaped silver token of love and protection worn at weddings.Adornment ยท Engagement and betrothal
๐ญ๐บ HungaryVลfรฉly
The Hungarian wedding host who guides the couple through rites, speeches, and traditions.Family role ยท Finding a match
๐ฌ๐ง United KingdomPage boy
A young male member of the bridal party who manages the bride's train or carries the wedding rings.Family role ยท The ceremony
๐จ๐ญ Zurich, SwitzerlandSame-sex marriage in Switzerland
The legal recognition of marriage for same-sex couples following a national referendum.Modern ยท Engagement and betrothal
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom and 3 moreCare cloth
A linen or silk cloth held over the heads of a bride and groom during a Christian wedding blessing.Attire ยท The ceremony
๐ฎ๐น ItalyConfarreatio
The ancient Roman patrician marriage rite marked by sharing a sacred emmer cake.Rite ยท The ceremony
๐ซ๐ท France and 5 moreProxy marriage
A union where one or both partners are absent and represented by another person.Vow ยท The ceremony
๐ต๐ฑ Poland and 1 moreBadchenืึผืืื (badkhn)
The Ashkenazi Jewish wedding entertainer and master of ceremonies who guides the couple through ritual stages with song Performance ยท Engagement and betrothal
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom and 5 moreGroomsman
A male attendant who supports the groom and assists guests at a wedding.Family role ยท Finding a match
๐ณ๐ฑ Amsterdam, Netherlands and 5 moreSame-sex marriage
The legal union of two people of the same sex or gender, recognized in dozens of countries.Modern ยท Engagement and betrothal
๐ต๐ฑ Krakรณw, PolandWedding of the Weddings
A Polish annual gathering for couples who chose alcohol-free wedding receptions.Feast custom ยท The ceremony
๐ณ๐ด NorwayEsbat
A monthly Wiccan gathering held around the moon phases for ritual and communityBlessing ยท The ceremony
๐ฉ๐ช Germany and 3 moreHerem of Rabbeinu Gershomแธคerem de-Rabbeinu Gershom
Medieval ordinances that banned polygyny and forced divorce for Ashkenazi Jews.Vow ยท Engagement and betrothal
๐ฉ๐ช GermanyBeilager
A public ceremony in German-speaking lands where witnesses observed the couple entering the marriage bed to finalize theRite ยท The ceremony
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Page boy: Joe Cheng, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bedding ceremony: Isaac Cruikshank, Public domain, source
- Luckenbooth brooch: Walker14806, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Herem of Rabbeinu Gershom: Nixnubix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Same-sex marriage: Stefano Bolognini, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Groomsman: Jenny Mealing, CC BY 2.0, source
- Rushnyk: Pavlo Boyko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Care cloth: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Confarreatio: Agnete, CC BY 3.0, source
- Proxy marriage: Alejandro Cicarelli, Public domain, source
- Badchen: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Handfasting: Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0, source