When we talk about traditions, the Italian wedding is rich in tradition, and in particular many couples focus on the wedding party to make it very appealing to their guests, sometimes even spending money they don’t have and making debts for this day.
In Italy the wedding traditions are very rooted and some women, still today, start as little girls to dream and prepare for this day.
The wedding is a very important ceremony and is linked to many celebrations, some which last even several days, and every wedding event is an opportunity to celebrate.
Religious ceremony in a church
Despite the number of wedding ceremonies in Italy has slightly decreased in recent years and it’s steadily going down due to the fact that more and more people are abandoning religion and choosing to live together as couples out of wedlock, those Italians who do choose to get married they go big on it.
Some people choose to marry because they believe in religion, others because they don’t want to disappoint their families by not following traditions, others see it as a party and an occasion to celebrate with their loved ones.
Some traditions are widely spread in Italy, as well and in many other countries, such as the one which says that the groom should not see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding, or the one which goes that the groom who has left his home to go to the church cannot go back inside.
It is also said that it is bad luck to buy the engagement ring and the wedding bands at the same time or to put on the wedding bands before the ceremony.
As for colors, light blue is the color par excellence of marriage: a symbol of sincerity and purity, it is usually chosen as a detail to complete the wedding outfit or as the thematic color for the wedding itself.
Even the wedding veil has a very old tradition behind it, and in some parts Italy, even today, it is customary to choose the length of the veil based on the number of years the couple was engaged for. The ancient Romans used the veil in their weddings as a sign of modesty on the part of the bride, but also to cover her face until the end of the ceremony, in order to avoid possible changes of mind. Hilarious but historically proven.
Regarding the throwing of rice outside of the church at the end of the ceremony, it is considered a wish of wealth and joy, and has always symbolized a beneficial rain of fertility. Nowadays there is no lack of modern and eco-friendly versions of rice alternatives (it is said that rice kills birds that eat it other than being a waste of food) such as soap bubbles, flower seeds and fruits, streamers, confetti, pom poms, puzzle pieces as well as other options to personalize this tradition.
Rice cones
In some parts of Italy there is the custom of cutting the groom's tie into small pieces and distributing it among the male guests in exchange for a small cash offer for the couple. As for the choice of the month, the highly popular choice in Italy to get married (for weather-related reasons) are the months of June and September, but also November is quite popular and that is because, traditionally, it is considered a month of wealth and joy.
The wedding favors have an important role in Italian weddings.
It seems that this tradition came to Italy from France at the end of the fifteenth century.
A rain of confetti (the paper ones)
It is called bomboniera and its name derives from the custom that the nobles of the time had to bring with them sweets, the famous bon bon in French.
Tradition would like it strictly in crystal, silver or porcelain but, nowadays, couples choose to give anything from small plants to homemade products, and some even choose to make a donation to charity and notify the guests about it with a small souvenir postcard and some confetti (you can read my past blog about these sugar coated almonds).
Traditionally, the wedding favors should be distributed among the guests after the cutting of the cake. It should be the groom to carry a silver tray with the confetti while the bride serves them in odd numbers with a silver spoon!
The bomboniere are traditionally given out after the cutting of the cake
