Wedding traditions beginning with U
10 traditions under U.
🇿🇦 South AfricaUkungenwa
A South African custom where a widowed woman is inherited by her late husband's male relatives.Family role · After the wedding
🇿🇦 South AfricaUkusina
An energetic Zulu dance where performers kick and stamp to drums during weddings and ceremonies.Performance · The ceremony
🇿🇦 South AfricaUkuthwalwa
A South African practice of abducting a woman for marriage, now largely illegal and contested.Betrothal · Finding a match
🇮🇩 IndonesiaUlosᯥᯞᯘᯬ᯲
The hand-woven textile that binds Batak couples in marriage and symbolizes warmth.Attire · The ceremony
🇮🇷 Shiraz, Iran and 5 moreUlulation
A high-pitched trilling sound made by women to celebrate weddings and share good news across many cultures.Performance · Procession and arrival
🇿🇦 South AfricaUmemulo
The Zulu coming of age ceremony that marks a woman as ready for marriageRite · The weeks before
🇸🇿 Ludzidzini Royal Village, Eswatini and 1 moreUmhlanga
The annual Swazi and Zulu gathering where young women cut reeds to preserve chastity and offer tribute labour.Rite · The eve
🇸🇿 EswatiniUmtsimbauntsimba
A multi-day Swazi wedding procession where the bride joins her husband's family through ritualised stages.Rite · Finding a match
🇺🇸 United StatesUnity candle
A modern wedding ritual where a couple lights a central candle from two tapers to symbolize their union.Rite · The ceremony
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv, IsraelUnregistered cohabitation in Israel
Legal recognition for same-sex couples living together without a formal religious or civil wedding ceremony.Modern
🇿🇦 South AfricaUkusina
An energetic Zulu dance where performers kick and stamp to drums during weddings and ceremonies.Performance · The ceremony
🇿🇦 South AfricaUkuthwalwa
A South African practice of abducting a woman for marriage, now largely illegal and contested.Betrothal · Finding a match
🇮🇩 IndonesiaUlosᯥᯞᯘᯬ᯲
The hand-woven textile that binds Batak couples in marriage and symbolizes warmth.Attire · The ceremony
🇮🇷 Shiraz, Iran and 5 moreUlulation
A high-pitched trilling sound made by women to celebrate weddings and share good news across many cultures.Performance · Procession and arrival
🇿🇦 South AfricaUmemulo
The Zulu coming of age ceremony that marks a woman as ready for marriageRite · The weeks before
🇸🇿 Ludzidzini Royal Village, Eswatini and 1 moreUmhlanga
The annual Swazi and Zulu gathering where young women cut reeds to preserve chastity and offer tribute labour.Rite · The eve
🇸🇿 EswatiniUmtsimbauntsimba
A multi-day Swazi wedding procession where the bride joins her husband's family through ritualised stages.Rite · Finding a match
🇺🇸 United StatesUnity candle
A modern wedding ritual where a couple lights a central candle from two tapers to symbolize their union.Rite · The ceremony
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv, IsraelUnregistered cohabitation in Israel
Legal recognition for same-sex couples living together without a formal religious or civil wedding ceremony.Modern
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Umtsimba: Cat7624, CC0, source
- Ukusina: Vulane Mthembu, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Umhlanga: Amada44, Public domain, source
- Ulos: Boy Lawson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ukuthwalwa: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public domain, source
- Unity candle: Dvillasmil, CC BY-SA 4.0, source