While there are some wedding traditions that are commonplace no matter where you live in the United State, there are some traditions that are unique to the region. In this blog, we’ll explore some fun traditions from across the country that you may want to incorporate into your own wedding day!
New York & New Jersey
The Viennese Hour is a popular wedding tradition for those who are from the tri-state area. The Viennese hour is a dessert buffet served after dinner and the cake cutting. They can range from a simple buffet filled with your favorite desserts or they can have specialty items like a chocolate fountain or ice cream bar.
If you want to adopt your own version of a Viennese hour into your own wedding consider adding a personal touch to it, like serving your favorite brownies, donuts, or pies.
Kansas
In Kansas, a popular tradition is holding a post-wedding event. Many couples also do bridal party photos and couple photos around town, which involves taking a party bus around the city and taking photos at popular landmarks.
Pittsburgh
Hailing from Pittsburgh is the cookie table. This fun tradition incorporates cookies, commonly homemade by the couple’s family and friends, but can also be store-bought. The tradition is said to have originated from Italian, Greek, and European immigrants wanting to bring a piece of their home to US wedding receptions.
Minnesota
There are many Norwegian, Danish and Swedish transplants in Minnesota, which means couples will often feature a Kransekage cake as a part of their wedding’s dessert offering. According to tradition, it’s good luck for the couple if every guest at the wedding gets a piece of this cake.
The South
While a Groom’s Cake is no longer a strictly southern tradition, this fun wedding tradition does have southern roots. The groom’s cake is actually a Victiorian-era English tradition where the grooms would get their own dessert. It was often a heavier dessert such as a fruit cake, with chocolate or perhaps alcohol. The point is that it was lighter than the bride’s cake which was often vanilla.
Today groom’s cakes are still served alongside the wedding cake and are usually decorated with something that represents the groom such as his favorite hobby, food, or sports team.
New Orleans
The Cake Pull is another tradition that comes from the Victorian era as a play on their ribbon pulling ceremony which was done at weddings to give good luck to single friends of the bride. Small charms representing things like good news, romance, marriage, and luck are attached to ribbons and placed inside the cake and the single friends take turns pulling the ribbon before the cake cutting. Today the tradition isn’t much different except often times the single bridesmaids are the ones who get the honor of pulling a ribbon.
Arizona
One fun tradition for couples getting married in Arizona includes the newly married planting a cactus during their ceremony. Another fun tradition to partake in is giving guests a cactus or succulent as wedding favors. You could even create signature cocktails featuring – you guessed it – prickly pear, which is a type of cactus!
Hawaii
A Hawaiian wedding ceremony couples can take part in is a flower petal toss. This is a fun tradition that allows friends and family to participate. According to Hawaiian culture, each petal thrown represents a wish that the wind god ‘Lono’ will hear as the couple and their loved ones throw them.
The Midwest and South
A Pounding Party is a Quaker tradition that any couple who are moving in together after the wedding. With this tradition, guests bring pantry items by the pound – which is why it’s called a “pounding” party. Think items like flour, sugar, butter, and other items that can be given by the pound. Some people will also bring items like cleaning supplies, or other helpful necessities for the home.
Texas and the South
A house party is an event where the bride’s family and friends that are not acting as bridesmaids but are helping during the wedding ceremony or reception to come to the bride’s home for a celebration. If you want to personalize and update this party for your own wedding, consider including your bridesmaids as well!
