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The one thing every human society has in common is
marriage. It doesn’t matter how isolated or backwards it is, if you
stick around long enough then you’ll find yourself at something at least
resembling a wedding. That being said, it will almost certainly not be
what you expect. In fact it is likely to be gross, confusing,
terrifying, or any mixture of the three. But as you read this list of
strange wedding traditions just think to yourself – who’s the weird one?
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Blackening of the bride
Imagine the most disgusting things in the world. You got it? Now imagine
all of your friends throwing those things at you, covering you in
grossness, and then tying you to a tree. This is the typical pre-marital
humiliation that Scottish brides endures in certain parts of the
country. Supposedly if you can handle this you can handle anything,
including marriage. |
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Aim carefully
In Yugur culture (an ethnic Chinese minority) the groom will actually
shoot his bride with a bow and arrow before the wedding…three times. Ok,
so the arrows don’t have arrowheads, but still, thats like getting shot
with rubber bullets. Once the deed is done, the groom will collect the
arrows and break them, thus ensuring that they will love each other
forever. |
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Fat farms
Beauty is relative and there is nothing in the world that exposes that
more than the country of Mauritania. Evidently there is a huge
difference between a fat camp and a fat farm. We westerners go to fat
camps to get skinny, Mauritanian girls go to fat farms to get fat…and
eventually married. |
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Cow-leaping Hamer tribe of Ethiopia
You’ve heard of leapfrog. But how about leapcow? The Hamer, one of the
many tribes who inhabit Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, don’t just treasure their
livestock, they line them up and hurtle over them too. Not once, but
four times. Complete the athletic endeavor successfully, following a
ritual head-shaving and dung-smearing, and you’ll be showing your fellow
Hamer that you’re ready to wed and take responsibility for your own
herd. As for the young women, they’re more than mere observers, eagerly
inviting initiates to whip them, in a symbol of solidarity and devotion.
Love hurts. |
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A salty wedding song
Although weddings are usually accompanied by tears, brides and females
of the Tujia people in China take matters to a whole new level. Starting
one whole month in advance the bride starts to cry for 1 hour everyday.
Ten days into the ordeal the mom joins the picture, and then ten days
later the grandmother does the same. By the end of the month every
female in the family is crying alongside the bride . Why? Well, it’s
actually supposed to be an expression of joy as the women weep in
different tones, kind of like a song…a very salty, wet song.
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Balaka
When a wedding is over in Korea, friends of the groom remove his socks,
tie a rope around his ankles and start beating his feet with fish in
order to prepare him for his first night as a married man. Maybe we’re
missing something?
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Polterabend
In some countries the guests bring the bride and groom new dishes as
gifts. In Germany the guests do the same…and then they smash them.
Supposedly the noise scares away evil spirits.
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Hold it in
For tribes of the Tidong community in Northern Borneo newly married
couples are required to be confined to their house while not emptying
their bowels or urinating for three days and nights. Bonding time?
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