Wedding custom around the world (8)
Finland:Brides wear golden crowns. After the wedding, unmarried women dance in a circle around the blindfolded1) bride, waiting for her to place her crown on someone’s head. It is thought that whoever she crowns will be the next to wed.
The bride and groom have seats of honor at the reception. The bride holds a sieve2) covered with a silk shawl3);when the guests slip money into the sieve, their names and the amounts given are announced to those assembled by a groomsman.
Greece:The koumbaros, traditionally the groom’s godfather, is an honored guest who participates in the wedding ceremony. Today, the koumbaros is very often the best man, who assists in the crowning of the couple(with white or gold crowns, or with crowns made of everlasting flowers, or of twigs4)of love and vine wrapped in silver and gold paper), and in the circling of the altar three times. Other attendants may read Scripture5), hold candles, pack the crowns in a special box after the ceremony. To be sure of a “sweet life”, a Greek bride may carry a lump of sugar in her glove on wedding day.