Yes, I do! When two people say this to each other in front of family and friends that calls for a celebration. And when you are unable to join the celebration, it calls for a blog post. One of our former ELM colleagues is getting married today in Bali. Some (former) ELM colleagues are attending the party and the others have taken on the fun task of writing a blog post regarding wedding traditions across some of the countries we represent within our team. Enjoy the read!

Featured Image translation from Dutch: Married? You can take that off your bucket list!

All the single ladies  | GREECE
Wondering what a Greek bride is writing under her shoe before the wedding? Well, it is customary in Greek weddings for the bride to write the names of her unmarried bridesmaids or single female friends on the sole of her bridal shoe. According to tradition, the ones that wear off at the end of the night are the next to get married.

‘Making’ the bed  | GREECE
Flowers, money and a baby rolling over the bed is the magic combination for a blessed marriage in Greece. The night before the wedding, family and friends of the couple gather around the marital bed to throw rose petals for a ‘blooming life’, money for wealth and well … a baby for fertility.

The Lang Reel | SCOTLAND
At Scottish weddings, it is a traditional custom for men to wear kilts! With the outfit comes a dance. The dance sees villagers and the wedding party begin dancing from the harbour and continuing through the village, with each couple leaving the reel when they pass their home.

Cry me a river | NORWAY
Found yourself invited to a Norwegian wedding? Make sure you have your tissues at hand. Bring along a big box because the speeches often become very emotional. The groom directs his speech to his bride and vice versa. And those speeches are full of emotion from start to finish. Even the Best Man speech will most likely make you cry.

Knock Knock… who is there? | GERMANY
When attending a wedding in a small town in the Bavarian region in Germany, you may hear all of a sudden a knock on the door. The Hochzeitslader dressed in fancy attire adorned with ribbons and flowers is sent around to personally invite all guests to the wedding.

For better and for worse! | FRANCE
Did somebody say champagne? During the Napoleonic Era, after a victory, French officers would cut open bottles of champagne with their sables. Napoleon would encourage this with a quote saying: ‘Champagne! In victory, one deserves it. In defeat, one needs it.’ Later, this became associated with formal occasions, of which a wedding is a prime example. Napoleon for sure knew how to celebrate.

Geonbae! aka Cheers! | SOUTH KOREA
The bride with rouge on her cheeks and her forehead. The groom wearing an ornate hat and sumptuous clothing. That is what you are going to see when you are invited to a traditional wedding ceremony in South Korea. Rouge symbolizes purity, one of the highly valued virtues in Korea. The bride and the groom stand on each end of the table, facing one another. Then they bow to each other in order to show respect and gratitude. After the bow, they share a cup of beer together to vow to be loyal and love each other for the rest of their lives.

Huisje, Boompje, Beestje | THE NETHERLANDS
When attending a wedding in the Netherlands, you are likely to find a guest book and if you are lucky it is in the ‘shape’ of a tree with cards in it. The wish tree is a collection of branches, ribbons and “leaves” (upon which guests can write).

Tuesday is gray, and Wednesday too | ITALY
For a happy marriage in Italy – avoid getting married on Tuesday! Tuesday or Martedì in Italian, may bring bad luck as ‘Marte’ comes from the God of War, and couples that marry on this day may spend their married life quarreling.

Red red towel | LITHUANIA
In Lithuania, the bride to be, places a red towel next to the stove to ensure the spirits of the house are favourable towards this marriage. She also hangs sashes on various places of honour around the house and also presents the groom’s parents with towels and sashes.

The more, the merrier! | VIETNAM
A traditional wedding in Vietnam, ends with a reception. Family, friends, and acquaintances of the family are invited, sometimes up to 1000 people! Nowadays, receptions are held at restaurants with 7 to 10-course meals. Guests also usually give money to the couple as a gift, to wish them luck in starting their new family.

Indonesia, or to be more precise Bali
The typical material of a Balinese wedding costume is Songket, with golden threads layers, the colour of the material is usually pretty bright: blue, yellow, orange or red with red representing happiness and celebration.

We wish all newlywed couples a lot of happiness!!!!

ELM Team