When you think about a wedding, what springs to mind? For many of us, it’s all about seeing the beautiful bride in a big white dress and a ceremony held in either a church or a civil venue, followed by a special meal and dancing! But around the world, other wedding days are pretty different!
In Cuba, weddings are non-religious and all eyes fall on the bride’s beautiful white dress – the bigger and frillier the better! Indian weddings are big, colorful and may last for three whole days! The night before the wedding, the women have a big party and decorate their hands with a brown dye called henna. During the ceremony, brides may wear an embroidered, red sari, and there are many rituals to observe, such as when the bride and groom give each other a flower garland. In Japan, the bridal couple sip a drink called sake and change their outfits throughout the day! The bride might start off in a traditional white kimono and a white paper head dress but then swap into a red kimono and finally, a white wedding dress!
Finding someone to marry!
In much of the world people tend to meet and fall in love with their partner through college, work, via friends, or from sharing a common hobby. Other times, people may use a dating service to try and find someone special, based on shared values and interests.
However, many brides and grooms from countries such as India, Pakistan and parts of the Middle East, Africa and South America have an arranged marriage. This means that when someone is ready to marry, his or her parents will make inquiries among the people they know to try and find a suitable match for them, with the idea that love will come later on.
What do you think?
Not everyone chooses to get married but for those who do get married, as long as both people are happy to do so, there’s no right or wrong way to go about it! Have you been to a wedding? What happened throughout the day? If you know someone who is married, perhaps they could tell you about their own special day or show you their wedding pictures!
This article and its images were first published on www.WhyzzExplorer.com, a website that helps parents to explain the world to kids, to inspire them to make a difference and to raise true global citizens.
