Italian Wedding Customs Traditions & Folklores
Italian weddings, like Italian culture, are rich in tradition and folklore. Many details for an Italian wedding---from the date all the way up to the gifts that guests give the newly married couple---are chosen to bring good luck or avoid bad luck.
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Wedding Dates
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As the home of the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic religion is the dominant religion in Italy. Old Catholic rules forbade weddings during Lent, the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter. This is a practice that is generally still respected today. May and August are also avoided, as they are considered unlucky months for weddings, especially in the south. June, on the other hand, is the luckiest month for a wedding, and Sunday is the luckiest day.
Luck and Jealous Spirits
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Despite the devout Catholicism of many Italians, superstitious customs have evolved, especially in southern Italy, in the name of avoiding bad luck and evil spirits. The bride wears green on the eve of her wedding to attract good luck, and to avoid bad luck, she doesn't wear any gold on her wedding day---not even her engagement ring---until the groom places the wedding band on her finger. She also covers her face with a veil to hide it from jealous evil spirits.
Toc ferro (piece of iron) is a bit of folklore that has fallen out of fashion. The groom once carried a small piece of iron in his pocket to defend him from mal'occhio (the evil eye). It was commonly believed that his happiness might attract jealous evil spirits.
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Bomboniere
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The bride and groom traditionally give each guest a bomboniere as a wedding favor. Each of the bomboniere consist of five candy-coated almonds (or confetti) wrapped in tulle, along with a card containing details of the wedding, such as the bride and groom's name and the wedding date. The bomboniere also may include a small gift of pottery or glass. The number of confetti is significant. Five is a prime number and so it, like the couple, cannot be divided. In addition, the confetti symbolize health, happiness, prosperity, fertility and longevity.
The Tarantella
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The Tarantella is a dance that is still commonly performed at southern Italian weddings. Typically, all of the wedding guests gather in a large circle and dance moving in one direction. As the music speeds up, the dancers change direction. The tempo speeds up several times until the dancers can no longer keep up. The traditional music varies from region to region, but most feature the mandolin.
The roots of the dance date back to sometime between the 15th and 17th centuries, when an epidemic of tarantism struck Italians. This disease, caused by the bite of a poisonous tarantula, is said to have caused victims to fall into a trance. These victims could only be revived by frenzied dancing.
Cutting the Tie and Veil
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A custom that is more popular in northern Italy is to cut the groom's tie into small pieces. These small pieces are then sold to guests as a memento of the wedding. The profits are given to the newlyweds. Another tradition, tearing the bride's veil either by the guests or the groom, is also supposed to bring the couple good luck.
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- Photo Credit wedding image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
