10 Wedding Traditions From Around the World Worth Stealing

1 Chile: His and Her Rings

Photo by Scott Clark Photo via 100 Layer Cake

For Chilean couples, engagement rings aren't just for the gals. In fact, both the bride and groom wear rings on their right hands until the ceremony, then switch them to the left hands.

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2 Hindu: Taking Steps as Friends

Image Source: Theilen Photo

In Hindu ceremonies in Southern India, the happy couple takes seven steps together to signify their friendship, which is considered the cornerstone of the marriage.

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3 African-American: Stepping Over the Broom

Image Source: Instagram user fernleephoto

The custom of jumping over a broom symbolizes sweeping away the past and starting a home. The tradition began during slavery, when African-Americans were forbidden to marry and sealed their love with a leap. Today, brooms are often handmade as keepsakes.

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4 Russia: Questions For the Groom

Image Source: Pasha Belman Photography

As we learned on Gossip Girl of all places, Russian wedding tradition involves a series of obstacles the groom must overcome, including The Newlywed Game-like questions about the bride.

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5 France: Two-Handed Toasts

Image Source: Géraldine Lentzy-Vilmain

In France, the bride and groom drink a wedding toast from a two-handed goblet called a coupe de marriage, which is often engraved and handed down from generation to generation.

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6 Muslim: Multiday Matrimony

Photo by Love Me Do Photography via 100 Layer Cake

Muslim weddings are usually a three-day affaiR, including a mehendi ceremony where the bride is painted with henna and a lavish feast the night after the wedding. A week or two before the ceremony, the wedding festivities kick off with a dholki, where family and guests practice songs and dances.

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7 Mexico: Madrinas and Padrinos

Photo by Pierce Lifetsyle Photography via Green Wedding Shoes

Mexican brides and grooms have many attendants, including family elders called madrinas and padrinos, similar to godparents. Traditionally, these honorees help with the cost of the wedding, though they may also simply provide emotional support and be assigned specific roles and tasks in the wedding planning.

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8 Sweden: Cohabitation

Photo by Nordica Photography via Green Wedding Shoes

Swedish couples often opt to tie the knot after a few years of cohabitating and may even have a kid on the way by the time they walk down the aisle. Sounds like a lot of 30-somethings I know!

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9 Italy: Bags of Money

Photo by Studio A+Q via 100 Layer Cake

Giving money as a wedding gift is such common practice in Italy that the bride has a special bag, called la borsa, usually made from satin. Guests place envelopes of moolah in the bag, with the intention of helping out with the lavish wedding expenses.

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10 Venezuela: Early Exit

Image Source: Theodoros Chliapas Photography

In Venezuelan weddings, the honeymoon starts right away, and it's not unusual for the bride and groom to sneak away from the reception to get the private party started.

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