Wedding traditions from around the world

With the start of the Rio 2016 Olympics it's a great time to take a look at how different cultures celebrate their greatest achievements. Here at SP we thought we'd take a look at how other countries celebrate their wedding day!

Here's our top 10 wedding traditions from around the world:

Philippines

The bride and groom release two doves on their wedding day to represent a long, peaceful and harmonious life together.

Photo credit: s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com

Norway

Norwegian weddings traditionally have a tower of iced almond cake rings for their wedding cake called a kransekake.

Poland

Some Polish traditions invite the guests to buy a dance with the bride on the wedding day, with the money going toward the couple's honeymoon.

Germany

In Germany friends and family of the bride and groom smash porcelain and crockery the night before the wedding to bring luck to the couple's marriage.

Photo credit: http://ivyellenweddinginvitations.co.uk/

France

The bride and groom in France traditionally eat chocolate and champagne after the reception from a toilet bowl to give them strength before the wedding night.

Fiji

In Fiji a man presents his future father-in-law with a whale's tooth in order to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage.

India

Brides and their female guests in India often have their skin dyed with intricate henna designs to represent love, joy and hope.

Photo credit: http://www.hennadesignsideas.com/

Congo

In the Congo the bride and groom are not allowed to smile during the entire wedding day to prove how serious they are about their marriage.

China

The bride's family hire a woman to care for her as she travels to the wedding, also known as a 'good-luck' woman.

Russia

In Russia the newly married couple share a sweetbread called Karavaya which is decorated with wheat for prosperity and interlocking rings for faithfulness.

All these traditions sound like lots of fun for the newly married couple, but our favourite tradition is throwing confetti over the bride and groom, but maybe we're biased!

Love as always SP xx