JAPAN

Despite being very faithful to its traditions, Japan has incorporated some western features into its wedding celebrations: 63.4% of couples choose to have a Christian wedding and 16.7% prefer the traditional Japanese wedding called Shinto; the remaining percentage opts for a civil wedding. In fact, the 2 events that have had the most impact to spread this trend have been the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer with Charles the Prince and that of the famous Japanese singer Momoe Yamaguchi.

• 

• 

Shinto traditional wedding

The date of celebration of the wedding still follows the belief of Koyomi (astrological calendar), as this determines the favorable and prohibited days to do the ceremony. The Shinto or Shinzen (wedding ceremony) is held in the main building of a shrine. The priest performs a ritual of purification of the couple before announcing their marriage to the kami (deities) and seeking their blessing.

The bride and groom then drink three cups of sake (Japanese alcohol) of different sizes in a ritual known as sansankudo. After the groom reads the wedding vows, the couple makes an offering from a sacred sakaki branch.

Typically, a couple’s decision to have a traditional Japanese or Western wedding is not based on religion, but rather on preferences for what to wear and budget constraints.

• 

• 

Yolancris dress proposal

• 

• 

ITALY

For Italians, a good wedding is one that is celebrated on any Sunday morning, except on Sundays in May (for being the month of the Virgin Mary) and August (for being a month of bad luck and illness), or during Lent or Advent.

In addition, it is also a tradition to marry the dress of a relative and that the bride does not wear gold jewelry until the wedding rings have been exchanged. On the groom’s side, legend has it that it is fortunate that the groom carries a piece of iron in his pocket to scare away evil spirits and that a glass is broken at the end of the ceremony to find out how many years the couple will live happily (according to the number of bits).

• 

• 

• 

A bitter sweet dessert

Although there are very Italian sweets such as tiramisu, panna cotta, canolis, gelato (ice cream), meringues or almond cookies, there are also some typical wedding dishes. These are the dough rolls and icing sugar called Wanda, which bring good luck to the bride and groom, and the caramel-covered almonds, a symbol of bitterness and sweetness in marriages.

Yolancris dress proposal

• 

• 

BRAZIL

The Brazilian bride usually wears a bright white dress and bright jewels, and it is a more established custom to wear gold shoes. In addition, the bride writes the names of the friends on the inner layers of her wedding dress, as a symbol for their friends to marry as well.

• 

• 

The wedding reception is usually a big party where the newlyweds and their guests celebrate, enjoy good music and drink. Many times the bride takes off her shoes and places them right in the middle of the dance floor, while around them they dance and the guests throw money on the shoes to support the financial future of the new couple.

• 

• 

Another of the Brazilian traditions at weddings is to eat bem-casado, a sweet wrapped in a bundle that brings good luck to the new married couple. At the end of the party, it is also customary for the bride to throw the bouquet with her back to the unmarried guests. The bouquet has a small statue of Saint Anthony.

Yolancris dress proposal

• 

•