*In **Moroccan *culture, on the wedding night, the bride will sneak into her parents’ house and steal something that she really likes. This then becomes rightfully hers and she can take it to her new home; her parents cannot reclaim it later.
One of the most interesting Kuwaiti wedding traditions that happens on the wedding night is the one when the groom would take the bride’s ‘abaya’ (a black cloak traditionally worn by Kuwaiti women) and pray on it. This was so that the bride would feel comfortable around her new husband and not be very shy. This tradition was also done as a way in which the husband asked that the couple’s new marriage be blessed.
*One of the most interesting wedding traditions can be found in Nigeria. When a man wishes to propose to a girl he must take her back to his ancestral home. So if they live in the States, or the UK, they must go back to Nigeria in order for them to get their marriage approved. Even if they lived in a different city, like for example Lagos, they must go back to their ancestral home. *
Once they get there, the groom then introduces his community to the girl he wishes to marry. This allows the whole community to hold witness to their marriage. The elders of the community will then trace the groom and the bride’s genealogy as it is a taboo for relatives to marry. Once that process is completed, the couple is then blessed by the community elders.
In Egypt, one of the most entertaining traditions is called ‘Laylat Al-Henna,’ or Henna Night. On this night the bride’s female friends and relatives gather and hold a small party, in which they dance and celebrate the bride. During that night, the bride’s hands and body are decorated with intricate flower-patterned henna designs. The guests are also encouraged to decorate their hands as well as they are joining in on the festivities of the night. On the other hand, the groom hangs out separately with his family and friends in an Arabic version of a bachelor’s night.
One of the most amusing wedding rituals is done in the north of India. The family of the bride will steal all of his shoes on his wedding day. The groom then has to spend his day looking for his shoes. If he finds them he is then given money. Moreover, another north Indian intriguing wedding ritual is the hiding of the rings. During the wedding ceremony, the rings of the bride and the groom are placed in a bowl filled with water. The bride and the groom must find the rings in the bowl before they can wear them.
In the Philippines, the bride and groom must dance together on their wedding night. While they’re dancing, wedding guests will approach them and pin money onto their wedding clothes. By the end of the night, the bride and the groom will be literally covered with money.
*Going back to interesting wedding rituals in the Arab world, in Lebanon, a groom and bride will place a coin in a small of piece of dough, and then they place the dough and coin on top of the house door of the groom’s family. The dough is the same dough used to make bread. This symbolizes a wish for prosperity and the abundance of money. It is placed on the groom’s house door because traditionally he’s bringing the bride to live in his family house and it is as if she’s the one who is bringing good luck and prosperity to the home. *
Another interestingLebanese tradition is what is generally called ‘Barmit Il-Aroos.’ Aroos is the Arabic word for bride. Basically, on her way to the wedding party the bride is taken by her family and friends on a car ride around her area. The bride is seated in one car and her family and friends follow in their cars honking the entire way, thus creating an atmosphere of festivity around the entire area.
In older Palestinian traditions, dating back to the 1800s, the bride used to have to travel to her groom’s house. Accompanied by her family and friends, she is taken out of her town towards her husband’s native place. Mid-way, the young boys of her town would stop the bridal caravan and refuse the bride’s departure, claiming that she is the property of their town and should be married to one of them. They relent only if their demand is met. They demand that the families of the bride or the groom pay a specific amount, generally enough for a man’s cloak, or ‘bisht’.
Brassware plays an important part in the lives of the South African Indian community. After the wedding, the groom goes to the bride’s family to pick her up. According to tradition, the groom is allowed to take as much as he wants from the bride family’s brassware. Thus the tradition goes that the bride’s family will hide all their brassware from the groom when he comes to pick up the bride so that he doesn’t take any with him on his way out.
Not sure how valid these are, but they were taken from this article:
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTg0MzU0MDAxOQ==