After the wedding
The first night, the return visit, the honeymoon and the first anniversary.
The wedding does not end with the party. The first night, the return visit to the bride's home, the gift-opening and the honeymoon all follow, and in many cultures the bride has a series of visits and tasks in her new family.
Returning and visiting
In India the pag phera or the satvaru sees the bride return to her parents' home soon after the wedding. In China the huimen is the visit a few days later, with gifts. In Iran the pa-gosha is a gathering at the bride's parents' house after the wedding. In Pakistan and Bangladesh the chauthi and the walima, held by the groom's family, mark the new bride's welcome. In Jewish tradition the seven blessings are repeated at feasts in the week after.
Honeymoon and settling
The honeymoon, a Western custom, is now a global custom, from the Maldives to Niagara Falls. In some cultures the couple live with the husband's parents, in others they start a new household at once. The first anniversary has its own gifts; in the West the first year is traditionally paper.
What is changing
Honeymoons have moved from a luxury to a norm, and couples now travel together or return to jobs the next week. Post-wedding visits are being shortened but still held in many families. Joint households are declining in cities while remaining common elsewhere.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Background on After the wedding (stage of the wedding). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇮🇪 Galway, Ireland and 2 moreCladdagh ringFáinne an Chladaigh
A traditional Irish ring featuring clasped hands, a heart, and a crown to symbolise friendship, love, and loyalty.Adornment · Engagement and betrothal
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreWedding ring
A metal circle worn on the finger to show that a person is married.Attire · Engagement and betrothal
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreBedding ceremony
The public ritual of placing the newlyweds in their marital bed to witness and seal the marriage.Rite · The ceremony
🇫🇷 Paris, FranceGlobe de mariée
A glass bell jar used in France to hold the bride's bouquet and preserve family memories.Adornment · The weeks before
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 2 moreOchipokочіпок
The embroidered cap that covers a Ukrainian bride's hair to mark her new status as a married womanAttire · The ceremony
🇵🇱 Poland and 6 moreKolachколач (kolach), калач (kalach), kołacz, colac, kalács
A braided or ring-shaped bread that marks weddings and major holidays across Eastern Europe.Feast custom · Engagement and betrothal
🇪🇸 A Coruña, Spain and 2 moreFirst same-sex marriage in Spain
The 1901 union of two women in Galicia that preceded legal recognition by over a centuryModern · The ceremony
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 1 moreContubernium
A recognized union between slaves or a slave and a free person in ancient RomeBetrothal · After the wedding
🇽🇰 Kosovo and 2 morePodruga
A second wife brought into the home to bear children when the first marriage is childless.Family role · Engagement and betrothal
🇳🇱 NetherlandsPoffer
The elaborate white headdress worn by married women in the Netherlands to mark their status.Attire · Engagement and betrothal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Claddagh ring: Royalcladdagh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bedding ceremony: Isaac Cruikshank, Public domain, source
- Globe de mariée: Alain Amet, CC BY 4.0, source
- Poffer: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- First same-sex marriage in Spain: Jglamela, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Contubernium: Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0, source
- Wedding ring: CLW at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Kolach: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ochipok: Unknown author, CC0, source