Canadian Traditions for Your Great North Nuptials

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Canadian Traditions for Your Great North Nuptials

When it comes to nuptials, it’s up to you and your partner to decide which traditions to adopt, adapt, and abandon for your special day. Religious and ethnic marriage rituals are common for engaged people around the world. Some couples incorporate ideas from literature, film, and television. And whether you’re getting married in Canada or simply want to incorporate something Canadian into your ceremony, Canada offers some old and new traditions to inspire and influence your marriage celebration. Here are some distinctly Canadian wedding customs worth considering. 

Canadian Crowdsourcing

Are you and your partner looking for ways to fund your special day? Consider a pre-wedding party or dance where guests pay to participate. Depending on which part of Ontario you’re in, this party is either known as a “stag and doe” or a “shag.” In Manitoba, this party is called a “wedding social.” Expressly for raising money, the festivities often include games and other fun activities where attendees pay, not unlike a Spring Fling or local festival. Some stag and doe parties also include auctions, in which guests can bid on various prizes. Proceeds go directly to the couple to pay for the wedding or honeymoon.

Canadian Nuptials and Tea

A much older Canadian wedding tradition is what’s called the “trousseau tea.” Geared towards casual friends and acquaintances who might not be invited to the actual wedding, a trousseau tea was typically held by the mother of the bride. This was a dinner party or luncheon where the bride’s trousseau, usually the bridal gown and other accessories, was on display. In Western Canadian provinces, various desserts, known as dainties, would also be served. The trousseau tea is quite old-fashioned and is nearly obsolete, but it could be modernized to reflect your tastes as a couple and family.

All Aboard

A celebration train is a Quebecois tradition where the groom and his friends and family meet the bride and her loved ones at her house on the day of the wedding. Everyone then heads to the wedding venue in a procession of cars. Participants will honk their horns and yell out of their windows, letting passersby know about the impending union. Bystanders will usually offer well wishes and advice in return. The train ends with the arrival at the venue, and everyone enters together. This is a fun way to increase excitement about the occasion, but it may not work for couples who want to avoid seeing each other in wedding garb before the ceremony. 

Sensational Sock Hop

Another fun Canadian tradition involves the unmarried siblings of the couple. At the reception, these single siblings will wear funky or silly socks and dance together. The sillier the dancing, the better. Other guests typically throw money at the dancers, which eventually goes to the couple to use as they start their lives together. This custom is a great idea for fun-loving wedding crowds and siblings who are good sports and don’t mind being silly for the sake of the newlyweds.

Nuptials and Wedding Wheel

The wedding wheel involves guests making a small donation of cash (e.g., a dollar) to dance with the bride at the reception. All the cash goes to the new spouses for their use. A variation of this tradition historically involved guests dancing with the bride and putting coins in her shoes. Cutting a rug with shoes full of coins is impractical, so some brides will keep a bag for collecting coins instead. The point is that participants donate small amounts of cash and have a little fun dancing with the new bride.

Wedding-day inspiration is wherever you and your partner find it. Canada offers soon-to-be-spouses some quirky yet fun ideas for making their big day one to cherish. Feel free to read up on these and other customs and tweak them as appropriate for your nuptials. 

Canadian Traditions for Your Great North Nuptials

When it comes to nuptials, it’s up to you and your partner to decide which traditions to adopt, adapt, and abandon for your special day. Religious and ethnic marriage rituals are common for engaged people around the world. Some couples incorporate ideas from literature, film, and television. And whether you’re getting married in Canada or simply want to incorporate something Canadian into your ceremony, Canada offers some old and new traditions to inspire and influence your marriage celebration. Here are some distinctly Canadian wedding customs worth considering. 

Canadian Crowdsourcing

Are you and your partner looking for ways to fund your special day? Consider a pre-wedding party or dance where guests pay to participate. Depending on which part of Ontario you’re in, this party is either known as a “stag and doe” or a “shag.” In Manitoba, this party is called a “wedding social.” Expressly for raising money, the festivities often include games and other fun activities where attendees pay, not unlike a Spring Fling or local festival. Some stag and doe parties also include auctions, in which guests can bid on various prizes. Proceeds go directly to the couple to pay for the wedding or honeymoon.

Canadian Nuptials and Tea

A much older Canadian wedding tradition is what’s called the “trousseau tea.” Geared towards casual friends and acquaintances who might not be invited to the actual wedding, a trousseau tea was typically held by the mother of the bride. This was a dinner party or luncheon where the bride’s trousseau, usually the bridal gown and other accessories, was on display. In Western Canadian provinces, various desserts, known as dainties, would also be served. The trousseau tea is quite old-fashioned and is nearly obsolete, but it could be modernized to reflect your tastes as a couple and family.

All Aboard

A celebration train is a Quebecois tradition where the groom and his friends and family meet the bride and her loved ones at her house on the day of the wedding. Everyone then heads to the wedding venue in a procession of cars. Participants will honk their horns and yell out of their windows, letting passersby know about the impending union. Bystanders will usually offer well wishes and advice in return. The train ends with the arrival at the venue, and everyone enters together. This is a fun way to increase excitement about the occasion, but it may not work for couples who want to avoid seeing each other in wedding garb before the ceremony. 

Sensational Sock Hop

Another fun Canadian tradition involves the unmarried siblings of the couple. At the reception, these single siblings will wear funky or silly socks and dance together. The sillier the dancing, the better. Other guests typically throw money at the dancers, which eventually goes to the couple to use as they start their lives together. This custom is a great idea for fun-loving wedding crowds and siblings who are good sports and don’t mind being silly for the sake of the newlyweds.

Nuptials and Wedding Wheel

The wedding wheel involves guests making a small donation of cash (e.g., a dollar) to dance with the bride at the reception. All the cash goes to the new spouses for their use. A variation of this tradition historically involved guests dancing with the bride and putting coins in her shoes. Cutting a rug with shoes full of coins is impractical, so some brides will keep a bag for collecting coins instead. The point is that participants donate small amounts of cash and have a little fun dancing with the new bride.

Wedding-day inspiration is wherever you and your partner find it. Canada offers soon-to-be-spouses some quirky yet fun ideas for making their big day one to cherish. Feel free to read up on these and other customs and tweak them as appropriate for your nuptials. 

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