Wedding Traditions of South America’s North Region
Wedding traditions in South America can be just a diverse as the continent itself in everydaylife. South America shares various religions and other beliefs. In the northern region, this wayof life and wedding traditions, is no different. For the countries of Colombia, Guyana, Surinane,Trinidad and Venezuela, this way of life follows suit.
Colombia
Prior to the wedding, a Colombian bride generally will put a coin in her shoe. This symbolizesthat she would never go without the basics needed in life. During the reception, all the singlepeople will put one of their shoes just under the bride’s dress. A member of the grooms partywill then reach under and pick out one shoe, in which the owner of that shoe marks the nextto marry. In some parts of Colombia, the new couple may get covered with “mantilla.” Thisrepresents that their marriage is to be lived under one roof.
Guyana
Many weddings that take place in Guyana take on an African heritage and are supported bymuch artistic shows or cultural performances. Much of the performances are focused on drama,music and dance. The traditional Guyana wedding generally takes place in a church setting,although it is not uncommon to see some ceremonies take place in the home.
A wedding reception in Guyana is not only focused on the show, but the cuisine as well. A verypopular dish in Guyana is the pepper pot. Generally crispy cassava bread is served with thepepper pot. Other cuisines you will usually find includes duck curry, puri, fried rice and chowmein.
Surinane
In Surinane, weddings and marriages are viewed differently depending on what part of thecountry you are from. Maroon men are known to have more than one wife and are spread out indifferent villages, as long as they can afford to care for and provide a home for them. For manyfamilies in the Hindostani agricultural districts, the parents will still decide who the marriagespouse will be for their kids. In Paramaribo, many of the marriages are within the same ethnicgroups, but some are mixed and acceptable.
The Caribbean family has the woman head up the household. Having children from differentpartners is widely accepted, despite women believing in monogamy. Men generally will havemistresses, known as buitenvrouw. However, the mistress is considered acceptable and is nothidden in secrecy.
Trinidad
Trinidad generally has three forms of wedding traditions; Hindu, Muslim and Western Culture.A Hindu wedding can last for up to three days starting on Friday night (Maticor) and will lastuntil the actual wedding ceremony (Vivaah Sanskaar) on Sunday. The Hindu tradition willinclude the Mehendi otherwise known as the bride having her hands henna painted. The groomusually will wear a four-piece Indian suit that will include embroidery and beads.
The Muslim ceremony (Nikah) generally takes place during the day with just some familymembers present. The remaining guests will join in the evening for the reception with a lot ofsong and dance. The groom generally will be dressed in either traditional Muslim dress or he willwear Western wear. As for the bride, she will be adorned in the traditional Ghararas or Lehengas.
A third option is the Western Culture wedding. The groom typically will be dressed in black,from the top hat to the coat tails, along with the white shirt. His bride-to-be will wear a dress ofany color she desires, but white is still the most popular. A street dance usually breaks out by allfamily and guests as they walk from the ceremony to the reception.
Venezuela
One long time tradition that continues today in Venezuela is the potential groom will ask hisfuture bride’s father for permission to marry her. A civil wedding service will then take place,but the marriage won’t be official until the religious ceremony takes place two weeks later. It isvery common to have a reception after both ceremonies.
At the religious ceremony, it is common to find the ring bearer and the flower girl dressed tomatch the bride and the groom. Also during the ceremony, the new couple will give to each other13 gold coins. This exchange will symbol good fortune and prosperity for the new couple. A bigtradition that takes place at the reception is that the couple will find a way to sneak out of thereception without being noticed by anyone else. This ability to sneak out unnoticed is thought tobring good luck to the new husband and wife. Even after the guests realized the couple is gone,the party will continue without them.