Tip of the Day #41: Embrace Regional Wedding Traditions

Tip of the Day #41: Embrace Regional Wedding Traditions I was taken aback today when I read my internal blog statistics and discovered that I have had over 4,000 unique visitors from all around the world including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Greece, Japan and Switzerland to name a few.  It is incredible how connected the world has become due to the Internet and even more exciting that you can explore other cultures' wedding traditions and photos with a simple click of a computer mouse.

To pay homage to my heritage, I wanted to touch on wedding traditions in Sweden. After traveling to Sweden and Finland with my family for many years, I know the importance of hosting a wedding in July or August since there are typically 20 hours of sunlight during the summer months.  My childhood idol, Princess Victoria of Sweden, wed a personal trainer in a traditional Swedish ceremony a few years back.  Swedish brides typically wear a crown from the bride’s family or church as well as a gold coin in their right shoe and a silver one in their left for good luck.  Check out the bling on Victoria's head!

Just as one might imagine, Swedish weddings traditionally feature a Smörgåsbord of traditional fare including sill (herring), lingonsylt (lingonberry jam) and köttbullar (Swedish meatballs).  Although the thought of Swedish meatballs typically conjures up images similar to the photo below for most Americans, Swedish food is quite delicious.

Just like any fun wedding, Swedish weddings are marked with heavy alcohol consumption.  Guests will often hear "Skol" as they toast to the bride and groom as well as slurred verses of "Helan Går," a popular Swedish drinking song.  Wedding toasts are also made to congratulate the bride and groom.  No matter what region of the world you are planning your wedding from, "Slainte," "Salud" and "Cheers" to you!