In Czechia, there are not so many wedding traditions that are still honored by the majority of brides and grooms. But those wedding customs and rituals that are still performed today are curious and fun. For example, the groom paying himself out of the sins of his youth or the couple feeding each other with a spoon with holes (poor bride’s gown!), etc. From this article, you’ll also find out why May is considered the worst month for a wedding, when millions of brides from the rest of the world would kill for a chance to get wed in May.
Fun wedding tradition #1
Groom paying himself out of the sins of his youth
After the official wedding ceremony is over, the groom’s friends hang a rope decorated with flowers, ribbons, and empty bottles in his way out. To pass, the groom has to pay his fellows. This symbolizes his paying himself out of the sins of his youth before starting the next stage of his life.
Fun wedding tradition #2
Cleaning a broken plate
When the whole wedding procession gets to the restaurant or another wedding reception venue, the couple has to perform an obligatory ritual before entering the place. Someone breaks a plate in front of the door and the bride and groom must clean it together. This is supposed to show everybody how the newlyweds can cooperate and overcome different challenges together.
Fun wedding tradition #3
Feeding each other
During the wedding dinner, you can see one more fun wedding tradition. The first dish served to the bride and groom is one bowl of soup that they feed each other. But usually, they can use only one hand and, instead of normal spoons, they get a super large spoon or a spoon with holes. So, this task turns into a cheerful and complicated challenge, which the guests love to watch.
Fun wedding tradition #4
Kidnapped bride
At some point during the wedding party, the groomsmen kidnap the bride and hide her. The groom has to find his wife within a certain period of time, otherwise, he pays his friends to buy her back. This ritual was invented not just for the groomsmen to earn money, but it symbolizes the groom’s devotion to his bride and desire to protect her and provide for her no matter what happens during their life together.
Fun wedding tradition #5
Collecting money for honeymoon
At the end of the wedding celebration, the best man and maid of honor carry the bride’s veil and groom’s shoes around the wedding guests and ask people to donate some money for the couple’s honeymoon. The guests throw bills into these shoes and veil. Sometimes, the couple manages to collect enough money for a nice romantic honeymoon because tipsy and cheerful guests can be pretty generous.
Why May is the worst month for a Czech wedding?
So, May is not a popular month for weddings in Czechia. Why? This tradition is rather old. If a couple got married in May, they would have had the first baby born in February. And in the past, February was a rather hungry month, the end of the long winter when supplies were getting thin. People would have had difficulties with feeding the young mother enough for her child to be strong and healthy. That’s why Czechs started to avoid getting married in May. Even today when life is a lot easier and the ration is equally rich all year round, not so many couples choose this month for their wedding.
