Wedding Planning|Wedding Planning & Wedding Advice

Today we start a new continuing feature here at weddingsetups.com: a look at wedding traditions from around the world. You can use these articles to honor your family’s heritage during your wedding ceremony, wherever it takes place. Or, you can celebrate the bride or groom’s culture during a pre-wedding party (an article with ideas for these parties will follow).

German Wedding Traditions

Festive Felony

In the smaller villages, the bride may be ‘kidnapped’. The groom looks for her in the local pubs, often picking up the tab for all of the customers or inviting them along in the search.

Housewrecker

There is a house party before the wedding that ends with all of the dishes getting smashed for good luck. The “lucky” bride and groom have to clean up the mess.

German Wedding Food

The bride and groom snack on bread when they first arrive at their home after the wedding, to symbolize that they will never go hungry.

Wedding Cake

The traditional wedding cake is Baumkuchen, which is often made in stacked rings but can also come in the shape of a rectangular cake or small squares. The one below is from konditorei-werner.de, warning: if you visit this site it will make you want to fly to Germany for some dessert!

German Wedding Attire

Tasty Accessories

Traditionally, the bride carries bread and salt to symbolize a good harvest and the groom carries grain, which is a symbol for good luck and health. This is also an aspect of traditional Polish Weddings, to read all about them please visit polishwedding.blogspot.com – a very useful and informative source. Photo: Polishwedding.blogspot.com.

Yes, but how far can you throw it?

In Germany the bride passes her veil on to the next woman to be married, rather than throwing the bouquet.

German Wedding Decorations

Sharing a Cup

Another tradition is for the bride and groom to drink from a special cup that lets them both drink at the same time. This is based on the “Legend of the Maiden Bridal Cup” and you can buy one of the beautiful cups at mayhemltd.com.This cup would also make a thoughful gift to the bride from the groom. The cup, and it’s beautiful story could also be used to propose!

Flower Horse Power

In Germany, real flowers are used to decorate the cars, rather than the ribbons, bows, and plastic flowers often used in North America.

Important German Words

Wedding: Hochzeit

Bride: Braut

Groom: Brautigam

All flowers have meanings ascribed to them, and tulips mean both ‘love’ and ‘passion’, so they are perfect wedding flowers. While tulips are available year round -to many people, tulips also mean that it’s springtime because that’s when they see tulips pop up in their own gardens.

Tulips come in a wide variety of colors, so your options for wedding colors are huge. Select a color that will match your wedding color, or one that will complement it.

White Can Be Just Right

Or, transform tulips to elegant romance by sticking with pure white. You can save money by ordering your wedding flowers directly from a wholesaler, like the flowerexchange.com. This is a great idea if you have a family member or friend who is skilled at floral arrangements. Not that lucky? You can still order in lots of flowers and stick to very simple arrangements. A large quantity of white tulips will fill the room and compensate for less fancy decor. In fact, it will look like you did it on purpose!

This rectangle vase from Ikea is only $1.99. Buy 100 of them and place them in groups on each table, and every where else you can think of (line the hallways, put them on the bathroom counters, place them between the food, by the guest book, etc).

Bright Wedding Idea: Colors Colors Colors!

The good news here is that if you are going with colorful tulips as a theme for your wedding, you can find Easter decorations for sale and save some money! This will work particularly well if you can shop a year in advance and pick up all of the sale items after Easter-time.

Tulip Cocktail Napkins

These napkins are from Crate & Barrel and are so elegant yet fun, that they could inspire the look of your whole wedding (colors, style). It will be our little secret.

High Contrast

This wild and crazy arrangement from The Flower Pot would be perfect for a down to earth yet fun bride. The arrangement is colorful and the colors will contrast wonderfully against a white wedding dress. I love how the tulip leaves become part of the arrangement.

Flower Motifs in Wedding Decorations

Fresh flower arrangements, bouquets, and boutonnieres – flowers play a big role in your wedding (and, possibly, your budget!). However, a Spring or Summer wedding can also include flowers in other decorating ideas as well.

Tips: Pick one type of flower and stick with it. If you do this, the flower can become a symbol for your big day and a subtle theme for all aspects of your wedding. Do not mix and match different flowers unless they are from the same group (i.e. wildflowers), and even then be very careful.

White Rose Fabric

Consider using the flower as a subtle design on some decorations – a raised pattern of white roses on a white background would be the kind of elelgant detail that people notice. For example, use a print like this one from cloaksofireland.com for the table linens (if the rose has a slight sheen to it and the background fabric is matte, it will be more noticeable.)

White Rose Petals

Use flower petals to decorate the church or reception hall. You can use fresh petals or purchase fabric petals, like these from wholesaleflowerandsupplies.com.

White Rose Stamps

You can include rose motifs right down to the smallest details, like using these stamps from zazzle.com on your invitations.

The Bride and Bloom

Tip: Keep in mind that even a white rose can have very different looks. Try to stick with the same shade of white and the same style so that your wedding doesn’t start to look unorganized.

Rose Wedding Favor

This delicate looking rose candle holder from hotref.com is made from resin and clear rhinestones (it includes the candle).

White Chocolate Rose Wedding Cake

A delicious and delightful white chocolate cake adorned with roses, from justscrumptious.co.uk.

DIY Delicious

You can make your own white roses from modeling chocolate, instructions at pastrychef.com. Leave them at each place setting as an edible decoration, or nestle each delicate rose in a favor box and send the guests home with one. Apparently, you can make them months ahead of time as long as you store them in a cool, dry location.

Wedding receptions are usually fun for adults, but can be a bore for the kids.

Keep children entertained with these great ideas.

Some online stores specialize in wedding favors for children. Kidsweddingfun.com offers table activities for 6 children in a gift basket. They have 2 different versions: one for children ages 3 – 7 and one for chidren ages 8 – 12.

Kidfriendlyweddings.com has cute themed activity kits (beach, garden, fairytale, autumn, and winter) to match your wedding. The fairytale version is pictured below: kids get to make a crown, play with a fairy tale sticker scene, and look through a magical kaleidoscope (there is a lot more inside).

Another idea: check out businesses that create loot bags for birthday parties. They might offer wedding activity sets; and if they don’t, you might be able to order something that will still work for your wedding (just take the loot bag contents and put them in a fancier bag or basket. You can order the Barbie Wedding Activity Board Book pictured above from lootlady.com. It includes the activity book, a little fancy purse, and candy.

If you’re having a kids table, consider hiring an adult to supervise and entertain the children (one talented at balloon animals or face painting would be perfect!). If you’re seating the children with their parents, you can leave an activity kit at their place at the table. A coloring or activity book with markers, a puzzle, or a craft – all great ways to keep a child entertained (and seated quietly). Small lego sets are cute, too – particularly if you can find one that matches the theme of your wedding. Stay away from crafts that include glue or paint (or anything messy).

If you have the time and inclination, you can put your own activity set together. Try to pick activities and toys that match your wedding theme and use a bag, basket, or box that matches your wedding colors.

Activity Books

This wedding day activity book can be purchased at sophiesfavors.com.

Busy Hands

This cute ‘take-along-tower’ from Playmobil is cute and lots of fun. There  is also a take-along unicorn castle available.

Get Crafty!

Add some activities to a bridal shower to make it more fun. If you give everyone something to do with their hands you’ll have less awkward small talk and more fun overall – particularly if your guest list is made up of a bunch of people who won’t know each other very well. These ideas could work at a bachelorette party too, depending on the tone of the event.

Ring Fling

Provide an assortment of materials and let guests craft their own engagement ring. Offer prizes for the most outrageous, most realistic, etc. Raid your craft supplies – if you’re not a big craft nerd like me, you can also go to a dollar store or craft store and pick up: metallic-colored pipe cleaners, large beads, ribbons, glitter glue, and whatever else you see that will work.

Check out this impressive looking ring from craftbits.com (visit the site for a tutorial).

Garter Fun

Everyone makes their own garter and then make all the guests wear it out on the stagette, if you like! Or everyone could make one and then the bride picks which one she will actually wear at the wedding.There’s a tutorial at applebride.com. Another option, buy simple and inexpensive garters for every guest and then ask them to decorate them instead. This is a quick and easy activity that could start off a fun evening. Garters should include the guests name or role in the wedding and the decorations will serve as an icebreaker when everyone is mingling at the party. It’s also a cheeky way to identify everyone in the group if you are heading downtown for the second half of the evening.

A plain white garter at koyalwholesale.com is only $2.99 (while on sale). Ideas for decorations: feathers, flowers, felt hearts (or other shapes), beads, gems, lace, ribbons, charms, etc. Also consider buying some fabric pens or self-applicating paint.

The garter pictured below is from mypromstyle.com.

Tampon Brides

Each guest makes a bride from a tampon for a fun craft activity that promotes lots of laughter and female bonding. Provide the following materials: tampons, glue gun, paint, pipe cleaners, yarn, embroidery thread, cardboard, glitter glue, beads, etc. This craft was inspired by the infamous Tampon Angel – I was pleasantly suprised to find a whole website dedicated to tampon crafts (tamponcrafts.com- their angel is pictured below).