正文 第35章 The Black Stretch (3)(1 / 3)

Armenia: Two white doves may be released to signify love and happiness. The bride may dress in red silk and may wear cardboard wings with feathers on her head. Small coins may be thrown at her.

Caribbean: A rich black cake baked with dried fruits and rum is especially popular on the islands of Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia. It is considered a“pound”cake — with the recipe calling for a pound each of flour, dark brown sugar, butter, glace cherries, raisins, prunes, currants, plus a dozen eggs and flavorings. The dried fruits are soaked in rum and kept in a crock anywhere from two weeks to six months.

Croatia: Married female relatives remove the bride’s veil and replace it with a kerchief and apron, symbols of her new married status. She is then serenaded by all the married women. Following the wedding ceremony, those assembled walk three times around the well (symbolizing the Holy Trinity) and throw apples into it (symbolizing fertility).

The Czech Republic: Friends would sneak into the bride’s yard to plant a tree, then decorate it with ribbons and painted eggshells. Legend said she would live as long as the tree. Brides in the countryside carry on the very old custom of wearing a wreath of rosemary, which symbolizes remembrance. The wreath is woven for each bride on her wedding eve by her friends as a wish for wisdom, love, and loyalty.

Egypt: Families, rather than grooms, propose to the bride. In Egypt, many marriages are arranged. The zaffa, or wedding march, is a musical procession of drums, bagpipes, horns, belly dancers, and men carrying flaming swords; it announces that the marriage is about to begin.