The world is filled with different cultures so are wedding customs. While some will make you scream, others will make you laugh.
In Sweden, there are quite a few things to follow when marrying into these people.
When a couple becomes engaged it’s typical for both the man and the woman to exchange rings.
Then on the wedding day, only the bride gets the second ring. It is believed that the engagement rings are plain wedding bands and then the wedding ring is the one with the stone.
Unlike in the US or UK, where the father walks the bride down the aisle to give his daughter to her groom, the custom is not the same in Sweden rather, the bride and groom will typically walk down the aisle by themselves.
A Swedish explained that they don’t like the idea of a woman being owned by a man and given away to another man.
A high profile example of this was the wedding between Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel when Victoria requested her father to walk her down the aisle.
However, she and her father only walked a few meters before Prince Daniel took over and they walked the last few steps to the altar together.
If you are a guest at a Swedish wedding, don’t be alarmed if the bride and groom kiss other people on their wedding day.
According to custom, when the bride leaves the room it’s traditional for all the women to line up to kiss the groom. And when the groom leaves the room to go to the bathroom then all the men get up and kiss the bride.
Also, when attending a Swedish wedding, don’t be in a hurry as it tends to drag on a bit due to the number of speeches.
The first speech is typically a short toast to the bride during the champagne mingle before the dinner, known as the Brudskål.
Then during the dinner, there will often be from eight to 12 speeches, as well as screenings of videos from the bachelor and bachelorette parties, games, and songs.
A friend of the couple is usually designated master of ceremonies to coordinate all of this.
In Sweden, there are often just one or two bridesmaids (brudtärna) and groomsmen (marskalkar). Pictures are also mostly taken before the event and not the other way round.
