Issue date: 1/24/07 Section: Weddings

Weddings aren't always brides in white dresses at a church with a priest and a choice of chicken or beef at the reception. In other cultures, some brides wear red, some have a fire going and some serve their guests camel.

Just as wedding practices can greatly differ here, weddings in other parts of the world differ depending on religion and location.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, weddings are traditionally Buddhist. "Usually the family would like the bride and groom to do an engagement first and then wait a year to get married, because during that time, you really get to know more and you'll be sure it's something that you want with that person," said Mai Nguyen, Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center Director.

The majority of custom Buddhist weddings are held at the bride's home in front of the ancestors' altar because ancestors are believed to be wise and are looked to for guidance.

"When it's ready, they will call the bride to come out. Then the bride will come out and then they start partying, and then the groom will give the bride the wedding band, and then the elders at the time will say that, 'we're very happy that both of you found each other and we hope that you will live happily for a hundred years, have many children, be successful in your careers,'" she said.

The couple will bow and pray together at the altar. "Red in the Asian culture, in the Vietnamese and Chinese in particular, is a very popular and a good luck symbol, so the bride will wear red, but the fabric has, you know, special design, like round symbols in Chinese characters. There's also a turban, with matching fabric around her head," according to Nguyen.

South India

In the South India state of Andhra Pradesh, weddings are traditionally Hindu, and usually arranged. "Just before the marriage, they do some cultural things, tradition things to the guy and the girl, to the bride and the groom, in different houses, in their own houses. Before the day of the marriage, they'll do the Gauri Puja, Goddess of Gauri. They have to pray to her for the marriage," according to graduate students Sahityah Narscing and Srayanthi Bobba, computer science majors.

The wedding will take place in one of many marriage halls. In a custom called Saptapadi, they'll circle a fire in a seven step ceremony, the main point being when they put their hands on
each other's heads.

"In the hand we have a leaf and some kind of, it's a mix of jaggery. They mix that, and make a little ball of it, and put it in the leaf, and put it in our hand, and then they put it on their heads. That's the main thing, if that didn't happen, they're not married. After that, he does the symbol of marriage," they said.

The symbol of marriage is the Mangalsutra. "The guy ties a kind of a thread, it has some gold colored things on it, the guy ties it to the girl's neck. He has to tie it three times, three knots. Like ten to 16 days after the marriage, they'll change the thread, and they'll replace it with a gold chain. Indian married ladies always wear that. They don't even remove it, it's like symbol of their husbands," said Narscing and Bobba.

Saudi Arabia

In the Saudi Arabian city of Najran, an Islamic state, weddings are almost all arranged. "Your dad, your uncles, like everybody go to her family and it's always with out you, without the guy, and ask her dad. They'll usually say if you give us a couple of days we will think about it, and we'll get back with you. After a couple of days, they'll call and hopefully they'll say yes," said Salem Alsulaiman, an engineering major.

The groom's family will give the bride's family a melka, $1000 to $1,500. There's not an actual ceremony, just a wedding party. The couple will be married before the party, but they can't see each other until then.

"On that day it's like a party in the bride's house and it's just women. On that day or the day before the wedding night. Our wedding, we start in the afternoon. We make it outside. The men, because the women are at the party, we have to make a lot of food for a lot of relatives. Like one camel and like 15-20 sheep. We make a party," he said.

Late that evening, the groom gets the bride from her place and returns to his house, where there's another party. "When you take the wife and you go to your house, she has to go to a closed room, just you and her, the groom and the bride, and you take the veil off and give her money and you have to pray and you go out with her, holding her hand, and they start a song," said Alsulaiman.

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