South American Wedding Tradition
Weddings are a special time of family celebration, no matter where in the world they take place. South American countries such as Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil have special traditions that make a couple's wedding day memorable, and many of these sentimental rituals have been established due to the influence of other regions of the world.
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Venezuelan
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Before a wedding can take place in Venezuela, the groom must ask the bride's father for permission before proposing, which is also very common in other countries. Two wedding ceremonies take place for Venezuelan couples--one civil ceremony that is small and intimate, and the bigger, religious ceremony that takes place in a church or chapel two weeks later; this practice is also common in Bolivia. After the church wedding ceremony takes place, the couple is considered officially married. During the wedding, arras, or thirteen gold coins, are exchanged between the bride and groom's families, and also the bride and groom, which represent prosperity.
Argentina
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European traditions influence many of the rituals that Argentinians practice for weddings, such as the father escorting the bride to the location where the wedding will take place. While the ceremony is going on, the father of the bride and mother of the groom stand with the couple--bridesmaids and groomsmen are not common in Argentinian weddings. During the couple's engagement period, the bride and groom wear their rings on their right hand; after the marriage, the rings are switched to the left hand.
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Bolivia
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Marriage is a practice that all Bolivians are expected to engage in, as it marks the beginning of adulthood. Andean marriages in Bolivia are comprised of three steps: juntados, which is a period of about three years where the couples lives together and begins to have children, the civil ceremony, and the formal wedding ceremony in a church--followed by two or three days of celebration. In Bolivia, parents choose compadres or compadrazgo, which are godparents, for their children. The compadres play a large role in the planning and financial responsibilities of the wedding, and provide advice and support to the couple throughout their marriage.
Chile
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Chilean couples exchange wedding rings when they become engaged--there is usually not an additional engagement ring. As in Argentina, the rings are not switched to the left hand until the wedding ceremony has taken place. A wedding party is also not a part of Chilean weddings--only the parents of the couple stand at the altar with the bride and groom during the wedding. During the reception, it is quite common to have mostly wine, since the country produces quality wines.
Brazil
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On the day of the wedding in Brazil, the bride must always arrive 10 minutes after the wedding time, and should never be earlier than the groom. Contrary to U.S. weddings where the groomsmen are selected months or even a year before the wedding, a Brazilian groom chooses his groomsmen at the time of the wedding. The groom must also tame a donkey in a custom known as bumba-meu-boi, which is practiced in certain parts of Brazil. This is supposed to show that the groom is manly and capable of protecting his bride.
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References
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- Photo Credit Wedding bouquet the bride on background of wedding dress image by Aliaksandr Zabudzko from Fotolia.com
