Facts & Trivia
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Worried about the spiralling cost of the wedding and the impending call from your bank manager inviting you in for a “little chat”? Well it could be worse. The most expensive marriage recorded was that of Sheik Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum's son to Princess Salama in Dubai in May 1981. |
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1 in 8 couples marrying in America met on the internet via social network or dating sites. |
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Grey is the most common colour worn by the male participants at weddings. Could we have found a less interesting fact? |
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Depending on where you look, the average wedding cost in the UK is around the £18,500 mark (in case you're reading this after 5 pints or a bottle of plonk, yes, you did read it correctly!). £460 of that is spent on balloons and decorations!!! |
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In the US the average cost is $26,000 and the average number of guests invited to a wedding is 178. |
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In Korea after the wedding ceremony, friends of the groom take off his socks, tie a rope around the ankles, and start beating soles of his feet with dried yellow corvina. Yellow corvina is kind of fish! It is done to make the groom stronger before the first wedding night. |
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In Germany friends of bride and groom kidnap the bride and the groom has to find her. The search starts in a local pub. The groom pays a drink to everyone who wants to join him in his search. |
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At the wedding reception in Portugal the bride takes off her shoes. They are then used for the guests to put some money inside. |
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Another interesting German tradition involves shattering a large number of dishes before the wedding and having the bride and groom clean it up. It is believed that the action of cleaning up the mass collection of broken dishes, which the family and friends have worked so hard to make, will help prepare the couple for their new lives together. |
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Moravian people live in parts of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At local weddings the bride and groom light one big candle. The flame is then passed to next person holding a candle. The person passes the flame to the person sitting next to him. This is continued until all candles at the reception are lit. The atmosphere created is very nice, intimate one. |
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In Slovakia the groom puts the bride on his shoulder and carries her away from the wedding reception. |
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At Swedish wedding receptions, guests may get an opportunity to kiss the bride or groom. If the bride goes to the restroom, all of the women at the reception line up to kiss the groom. If the groom exits the room and is out of sight, the men line up to kiss the bride. |
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The French have an interesting after-wedding tradition known as Chiverie. During this traditional prank, friends and family of the newly married couple gather in the evening and clang pots and pans, ring bells, and blow horns intended to startle and interrupt the couple. Upon hearing the noise, the newlyweds are to come out, still wearing their wedding attire, and provide their tormenters various refreshments. The “Shivaree” or “Charivari” custom persisted in rural and backwoods areas of the American South into the 20th century. Incidentally a noisy entrance of clowns is called a “Chivarie”. Coincidence? |
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The word “wed” is derived from the ancient Greek word for “pledge.” |
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In Ireland during the reception, when the couple is dancing, the bride’s feet must remain on the floor. It is said that fairies love beautiful things and their favourite beautiful thing is a bride. If the bride was to have even one foot off the ground, then she could be swept away by the fairies. |
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It is bad luck for a bride, as well as anyone attending the wedding, to wear green at an Irish wedding. It’s also bad luck for a bride or the groom to sing at their own wedding. Sadly that doesn’t stop the tone deaf uncle from giving everyone his heartfelt, glass shattering version of Danny Boy. |
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The largest wedding attendance was a Jewish wedding in Jerusalem in 1993 where 30,000 people attended. |
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Multimillionaire Peter Shalson and wife Pauline paid £2 million pounds to get Elton John to sing a song at their wedding. |
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The tradition of bridesmaids dressing the same as each other and in similar style to the bride comes from ancient days when it was believed that evil spirits have a more difficult time distinguishing which one is the bride and putting a hex on her. |
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In Pennsylvania, Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk. Apparently its not a problem in the other states!!! |
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Seventeen tons of gold are made into wedding rings each year in the United States! |
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Stag parties were first held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party. |
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A Malaysian man holds the record for being the best man at over 1000 weddings. |
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Sir Temulji Nairman was married to Lady Nariman, when they were five years old. The marriage lasted for 86 years. |
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