How to Plan an Italian Wedding
If you and your fiancé are planning an Italian wedding, involve your family in the process, as they are an integral part of an Italian wedding. They may have some input as to which traditional customs to integrate in your ceremony and reception. Traditionally, Italian weddings involve a full feast at the reception, up to 14 courses, along with aged wines and a boisterous crowd of guests ready to dance and party.
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Instructions
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Buy a wedding gown that meets with the Catholic Church's approval. Some churches are strict and require the bride's arms covered, while others permit a shawl over the dress during mass. Check with the priest who will marry you.
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Decide which traditional Italian customs to incorporate into your ceremony, such as tying a ribbon on the door of the church on the wedding day to symbolize good luck. Consider wearing the wedding veil over your face to ward off jealous and angry spirits.
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Wear a satin purse, known as the "buste" custom, which involves guests gifting the newlyweds with money and dropping it in the purse. If you are not comfortable with this idea, set up a card box for guests to leave their checks and cash. Italians often give money and not gifts.
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Plan your reception menu. For a traditional Italian feast, offer up to 14 courses, starting with seasoned olives and prosciutto as the antipasti, leading to hearty pastas with thick tomato sauces accompanied by lean cuts of veal.
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Order the cake. Choose a 3-tier wedding cake or the more traditional Italian desserts of tiramisu or zuppa inglese, pound cake stuffed with vanilla and chocolate custard and fruit and decorated with candied doves to symbolize marriage. Or, opt for a sweet and dessert table, with Italian pastries and your wedding cake.
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Give out sugared almonds favors to symbolize what Italians call La Dolce Vita,"the sweet life." Almonds show that life may be both bitter and sweet, sometimes at the same time.
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Hire a DJ or a band familiar with the important dances to play. Play traditional wedding dances. Or opt for the Tarantula folk dance, where your guests join hands and race in one direction until the music stops, and then they dance the other way. This song changes speed and tempo frequently and will amuse your guests.
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References
- Photo Credit wedding image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
