I am german and attended a wedding in the USA once. I thought it was the strangest thing to have a rehearsal of the wedding the day before. Like practicing for a theater show or so. It all seemed more like a show to please the guests.

Polterabend is true. And you HAVE to go to the Standesamt (public office). Church is optional.

Toilets at the Polterabend mostly happen when a friend is a plumber and needs to recycle on old toilet ;-)

The idea of the Polterabend as I learned it, is because of the cliche that if a couple argues, they start throwing dishes. So if you break all the dishes before the wedding, you "get it out of your system", and your marriage will be happy and harmonious, with no arguments

No, glass does not go with a Polterabend. It stands for bad fortune. Broken porcelain stands for good fortune. Most people don't have spare toilets to discard and this is not so common. Most people bring spare plates, saucers coffee cans etc., perhaps chipped ones. The more pieces the plate breaks into, the more luck for the couple.

There's a saying "Scherben bringen Glück" ("broken pieces bring good fortune"), doesn't matter if those pieces are of toilets or glasses!

During the kidnapping of the bride at my parents wedding, friends of the family took her to the local pub and just started getting smashed with the most expensive stuff they had. The longer you spend searching, the bigger your bill is going to get. So you BETTER keep a close eye on your wife.

I know, me and my wife did not follow tradition much, but I didn't realize there were so many things to follow - that we all ignored. I'm glad, we only had the "standesamtliche" wedding and a big, casual, heavy-metal-festival-like barbeque afterwards. We even had festival flyers and festival wristbands. Brütal Marriage Festival 2016 - a night to remember. Or not, depending on the amount of alcohol you had.

The white wedding dress was invented by Queen Victoria of England in 1840. She wanted to show her virginhood and innocence, hence she decided for the white dress.

in Germany Married: Ring at the right hand Fiance: Ring at the left hand, because the left hand is the site of the hart!

Polterabend 😂. I work at the recycling center ( people can give us almost everything, different systems in every Bundesland) and we especially collect porcelain for those events, for our village communities around us❤. So yes it is still trending here in the south. 😂

Do the women in the US wear the rings on a daily basis like us. I would be soo afraid of loosing it or that it is stolen, when it has big diamonds included. And it's not practical, if it is a big one. Always in the way. So, I guess here, we germans are just practical as always. Putting a personal engraving into it is much more common.😉

"I feel like I'm being misled. Every once in a while they tell foreigners total bullcrap" I remember many years ago, I fooled reddit into accepting a german tradition I totally made up. Went something like "old german men and young men get together for a traditional symbolic transfer of power. The young man brushed the beard of the old man while singing the traditional hymn for the occasion, 'Ich bin jung und du bist alt, Ich bin noch warm, du bist bald kalt. Während ich durchs Leben turne, wartet auf dich schon die Urne und musst du im Jenseits schmoren, fühl ich mich wie neugeboren'" it was a song from kleines arschloch :D I have no idea how many I fooled but I enjoy the thought that maybe there may still be someone out there that thinks that was real.

You have to remember that all of the mentioned parts are optional (apart from the actual marriage at the office). My husband and I actually had none of the other stuff: no church, no polterabend, no rings, no white dress, no vail... But: we are still happily married ❤

German weddings can be so fun. We saw wood. We throw money. We cut big hearts out of sheets and climb through them. And we play terrible games that only the guests find funny but not the bride and groom. These are our traditions.

In our region in the west of germany it is usual that groom and bride have to saw together a trunk of wood in halfes after church - using a two-man-saw or at least an big, two-man-operation suitable, bow-saw. this schould show that the pair knows to work together and that in the future they will always work as a team to overcome all obstacles. Many grooms and brides do quiet some sawing training before their wedding day to avoid humiliation at their "finest day". The friends of the groom, are traditionally responsible for organising the saw, the trunk and all necessary stuff - and to guard saw and trunk! Because other, non marrried men from the village traditionally try to steal the trunk and change it againt one that is especially hard to cut, or to even "sabotage" the saw... and the friends of the groom have to stop such trials - mostly by offering free beer or wine and some hard drinks...

The witness is optional. You can appoint up to two people but you don't have to. The registration office worker is the witness anyway.

A Polterabend in the US would be a sad event. Imagine people throwing their paper plates on the ground. 😜

The white wedding dress: Queen Victoria of England started the tradition in 1840.

Missing the Brautstraußwerfen and the "Wer beim Anschneiden der Torte die Hand oben hat, hat das Sagen".

One big difference is that in Germany the bride is not "given away" by the father into the custody of the husband to be. The bride and groom meet outside the church and walk up the aisle together.

And as always there are differences between rural and urban areas as well as between different regions 😊

Yes we do have the polterabend - but we mostly break old plates and such! No idea where she got the Toilet from, but i guess if youre renovating your house anyways, that would be an option...?

Church weddings are optional and you have to be a member of the church to have one.. so about 40% of the population who are not a member of the church cant marry in a church anyway.. This applies to christians only of course.. other religions have their own traditions.. but as a general rule.. ONLY the weddings you take at the official governmant office are legally recognized.. and yes, there are tons of wedding venues

During the last years the American way of engagement tradition swaps over to Germany (Buying an absurd expensive ring with a fat stone of questionabke beauty, kneeling down and so on and on.). Traditionally there is no engagement ring. After the bride's YES the wedding rings are chosen together and are worn on the left hand to signal engagement. At the wedding the ring just changes hand. Also asking the bride's dad for allowance or the dad (or any replacement guy) leading the bride through the church is a nogo. The couple usually enters the church together. The anglo-american tradition of leading the bride is seen like a bit of handing over property. Also here, TV an Cinema did their thing and there are couples who think that has to be done.

05:46 dude, it's your marriage too. Like both need to want this, so including the groom seems to be like obvious?? Why would you not include 50% of the married couple???

Toilets are not the standard thing on Polterabend to throw but mainly plates and cups 😂

From someone who’s 30yo: Many weddings don’t even incorporate big ceremonies anymore. It’s just the civil office wedding, then some dinner for a selected small group of guests and that’s it.

At many weddings in Germany there is a warm menu in the evening, preceded by wedding soup, a main course and then a dessert. Afterwards the party starts with a lots of music and dancing. Of course there German beer is a must.😅🍺🍷🍾 At midnight there is the wedding cake and usually a cold buffet.👩‍❤‍👨

oh believe me we complain about the sound of cars honking for weddings😂

I think one of the biggest differences between german and american weddings is: In Germany the couple is NOT leaving the party to go to honeymoon at one point. They spend their time to stay with family and friends on the party and usually leave when everybody else is gone. So maybe at 6am? 😂 I think the way american couples leave the party is so unkind. Poor guests… I mean: What do they do when the most important people are gone???

Diamond industry been really good at scamming people into thinking that if you don't get your fiancée one huge-ass rock of a diamond that means you don't love her ...

There are wedding venues outside the registry (Standesamt), but to be legal, it must be held by a state official. Since church weddings don't count at all other than for the church itsself, you can have one anytime.

2:09 and 2:15 : When Ryan said 'Mhmm...' this makes me laughing LOUD out about the relationship between smashed toilets and good luck... 😂🤣. Greetings from northern Germany ♥️🇩🇪

In Germany and Austria you are required to go to the City Hall to the Registry Office and get married there, otherwise the marriage isn't legal, a lot of people still decide to have a church wedding which doesn't count and isn't legal just to have a Church wedding, it's just something formal you do, for the family, and beautiful wedding pics or if you are christian, but it doesn't count.

Some people believe that the change of hands in Germany has something to do with the Reformation: Protestants are said to have deliberately worn their wedding rings on the ring finger of their right hand as a symbol of separation from Catholicism. On the other hand, the left hand was already considered indelicate in Catholicism, and our very Catholic Polish neighbors also wear their wedding rings on the right. Another theory therefore invokes the ancient Germanic tribes. They, in turn, are said to have believed that their love vein was on the right side of their body. But perhaps the German language also gives us a clue: rechts engl right “rechtens”, “rechtschaffen”, “aufrichtig” or “Gerechtigkeit” engl. righteous", ‘upright’, ‘honest’ or ”justice versus links engl. left “link” or “gelinkt” engl. “link” or “linked”. The right hand is the good, the right hand; the hand we shake in greeting. This cultural idea may also have played a role. However, there is no precise, verifiable explanation for the choice of the right hand. In Germany and Austria, as well as in Poland, Bulgaria, Norway and Russia, the wedding ring is traditionally worn on the ring finger of the right hand. However, this custom is not universal and there are also couples who wear the wedding ring on their left hand.

3:40 I had my wedding at a venue (10 year anniversary coming up, karma-farm). I live in Austria and when you go to register a date for your weeding at your municipal Standesamt (registry office) you can choose if you want to be wed at the offices (which mostly can be done inside the same day if you arrive there early enough) or if you want to do it somewhere else. Performing the ceremony / legal act at Standesamt directly only costs a few bucks, i think it was around 30€ to 50€. Booking a registrar to come to your venue and perform the act there did cost north of 500€ (including taxes) back then in 2014.

It's so weird. I'm from Bonn and I recognize these stores and people and locations because they are basically in my neighborhood

In Germany there is traditionally no separate engagement ring. The later wedding ring is also the engagement ring. Of course you can do it differently, but that is not the norm. The astronomical prices that are spent on engagement rings in the USA are also not the norm here. Wedding rings are simple rings made of white gold, yellow gold or rose gold, occasionally also made of platinum. Cain silver, and a maximum of one or more small, inserted brilliants or diamonds.

😂😂😂lol,Ryan after making the video,screwing around the toilet,lifting and try to smash it,his wife:WHAAAAAAAT ARE YOU DOING? I 'm celebrating our Wedding😜😜😜

FUN STORY OF MY PARENTS WEDDING nov 29 court wedding nov 30 church wedding dec 1 my father birthday and in 14 years of being married my father managed to forget the weddingday 10 times

Basic german wedding: Two people go to the Standesamt (public office), sign their mariage documents and have it officialized by the officer. Most commonly you each bring a witness and exchange rings. Whatever else you do depends solely on what stupid wedding TV / internet shows you (or most often the bride and her friends...) choose to watch before...

I think wearing white for your wedding dress started with Queen Victoria, who wore a white dress at her wedding to prince Albert. Before that wedding dresses could have any colour, the bride usually wore her best dress.

I feel like some typical wedding stuff was missing. Like throwing the bouquet, the kids that throw petals in front of the bride, midnight snacks at the party (like Currywurst), the first dance and the stupid games at the party. And I still know the tradition that the engagement has to be one year and one day ahead of the wedding itself (but that's not very common).

2:50 Back in my day it was mostly just old plates, mugs and glas that was destroyed most of the time in front of the garage of the newly weds. But there was also always that one guy who tooks the fun part much too far. That’s when the toilet came into play. But now there is often a dedicated party on Polterabend and not just a keg full of beer and some snacks for neighbors and friends who came by to wish good luck to the couple. Now there are also often so called „Polterhochzeiten“ especially when the couple is only doing a legal marriage at the Standesamt. Those celebrations are often with more people than normal but also less formal than normal.

I am german, but i never saw someone smash a toilet at a Polterabend.

Breaking glass brings bad luck. But breaking porcellan brings good luck. So, bigger porcellan stuff just brings more luck? No, it's meant as a joke. 😂 You even can say "I'm visiting the porcellan department" if you want to say "I go to the bathroom" in a funny way here 😉

The "Polterabend" can be a very expensive thing because it's not as "privet" as you think where you invite people who you want to be there. No it's normally a thing where everybody can came by to make party with you. Depending on the size of the vilage where you live it could be that you have aroud 300 to 500 people sitting at your home. All has to be paid by bride and groom. Of course it could be that you will get some money from people or the spend something to drink...

🤣🤣🤣 We smash old porcelain in front of the couple's house & since toilets are made of porselain, occasionally an old one gets smashed 🙈

But those were just the basics, there's a lot more, walking through a heart together, throwing rice, carrying the bride over the doorstep... and there's also an engagement ring.

in Germany we too have two rings, engagement ring and wedding ring. They only talked about the weddign ring. Some couples in germany also renew their vows with a second small wedding 10-40 years after the original wedding.

Some people in Germany also renew their wedding vows, it all depends on personal preferences though.

Ryan, remember: Two rings are a good start for a chain

The bride kidnapping thing is shown on the Office, too

🤔my Granny said,do only marrie when you have the money for the divorce....

Yup. Polterabend is a thing here. Also the toilet smashing since they’re made out of porcelain. But usually it’s mostly old china that is put to good use (for good luck). But no glass !

There are couples who get two rings engagement ring and wedding ring, but it's also common to wear the ring on the left hand before and then switch it to the right hand, after the ceremony

I remember being on a Polterabend as a child, when friends of my parents married. There were a lot of children having fun smashing some porcelain, so naturally the unavoidable happens and kids get cuts from stepping on or handling broken pieces. At one point we were 3 bleeding children standing at the improvised first aid station. It was great! At this wedding I even randomly found an unbroken pot - the exact one my parents missed in their 6 piece porcelain set at home.

To your question: I've actually rarely heard of married couples celebrating their weddings again, but almost every year that they stay together has a special meaning and wedding anniversary. And it's a good idea to give each other something made from the material after which this special wedding year is named.... This often varies depending on the region, which is why there are sometimes several names for the respective wedding day. So, here we go: Green (because of the myrtle) or White wedding: the day of the wedding ceremony 1 year: paper wedding 2 years: Cotton Wedding 3 years: leather, Fruit or Wheat Wedding 4 years: silk, Amber-, Linen or Wax wedding 5 years: wooden wedding 6 years: Sugar wedding (A good partnership makes life sweet ☺). 6 ½ years: tin wedding. 7 years: copper wedding 8 years: bronze, Sheet-, Nickel or Salt wedding 9 years: ceramics, Glass-, water or Willow Wedding 10 years: the rose wedding (larger celebration with relatives and friends) 11 years: steel, Carnival (I have no idea what that means) - or Coral wedding 12 years: linen, Earth-, Nickel -, or Silk wedding 12 ½ years: parsley, Copper-, sheet metal or Nickel wedding 13 years: lace, Lily of the valley or Salt wedding 14 years: ivory, agate or Blue wedding 15 years: glass, Crystal or Bottle wedding 20 years: porcelain, Copper-, Chrysanthemum or Wedding of thorns at here big fat celebraitions like the white weddingday : 25 years: Silver Wedding 30 years: pearl wedding 35 years: linen wedding 37 ½ years: aluminum wedding 40 years: Ruby, Garnet or Emerald wedding (The wedding ring gets a ruby ​​or emerald) 50 years: Golden Wedding (some couples exchange new rings) 60 years: Diamond Wedding 65 years: Iron Wedding 67 ½ years: Stone wedding 70 years: mercy or Platinum wedding 72 ½ years: jewel wedding 75 years: Crown Jewels or Radium wedding (I would rather not give that as a gift because of the radioactivity... well... that probably doesn't matter at this age😂)

Polterabend with us mean smashing plates and cups. Not toilets.

As a german I never thought an Irina is a original german woman. Irina is of greek origin and almost all Irinas I know are from Poland, Czech, Ukraine or Russia.

My husband almost forgot the bouquet (I had a blue dress for my wedding - he wanted blue flowers for me). The only blue flowers the flowerstore had (February in Germany) were blue dyed chrysanthemums. They lost their color during the party, so we had some kind of funeral bouquet. We happily threw it in the trash after the party 😂

The engagement ring you wear on the left hand. Often it has a stone but that's not required. When you're married the wedding ring goes on the right hand. Sometimes women wear both rings right after the wedding, sometimes they let them build together (2=1) but sometimes they leave it be, engagement left and wedding right. The right side means, that the woman is now legally part of the man's family. Because right (rechts) has a double meaning, it means right side or legal (Recht).

Yeah I remember my uncle bringing an old toilet to the Polterabend of his best friend in 1995. It was hilarious

No, in Germany engagement rings might include a diamant but it isn't nessessary. And both of them might wear a ring or none of them. That is pretty much up to your personal preference

The white wedding dress wasn't a thing before queen Victoria decided to wear one. After she did, others wanting to copy her followed suit. Here in the Netherlands, you can only get married at certain registered places, and outside of city/town hall there are very few of them so most get married there. Also many here aren't married at all. I personally am not, it really doesn't hold any extra value to me and I'm not a big fan of being centerstage at a big way too expensive party (I know, I'm such a romantic....)

Do americans have the "new, old, blue and borrowed" tradition? I'm Gernan and my mother told me that at the wedding it brings luck when the bride wears something new, something old, something blue and something borrowed. My mother wore her new wedding dress, old ear rings she inherited, a blue flower in her hair and she borrowed something from a friend (I don't remember what it was, tho.

8:17 yup my parents did that. Its like a funny little thing lol

The church wedding is considered a private party (by law). So you can celebrate whatever you want as a wedding ritual. After or before the official wedding at the office. We invited the officer to join our party at the hotel, and she came and held the procedure already in the place where we celebrated later.

"shards of porcelain bring luck ... so you break toilets ..." Well, when you say it like thaaat 😂

At Polterabend, people throw old porcellain (mostly dishes - toilets are more a thing if friends think they are oh-so-funny ...) on the ground and the couple has to sweep the shards together. This tradition was done to chase evil spirits away from the wedding (I guess the spirits should flee from the loud noises - "poltern" means "making loud noise"), and traditionally it is done the night before the wedding. Today, it is mostly planned one week or longer before the wedding and just a fun tradition where friends mock the couple by bringing very much porcellain (or toilets). Registry wedding second: The state would not care, but the protestant church insists on "You have to be married officially first" (because the protestant wedding is just the blessing of an existing marriage), the catholic church _could_ do a wedding without, but mostly they insist on "registry wedding first" for reasons I don't know :D Weddings in a wedding venue are complicated in Germany. The registry wedding is only allowed in either a room of that office or an "Außenstelle", a place the registry office owns. You cannot do that anywhere. Most churches only allow weddings in sactified places. In most German weddings, the ceremony is at one location, then everybody goes or drives to the celebration to a second location. Both in the same place is quite rare. The only way for a wedding in a wedding venue in Germany is a "Freie Trauung", a "free wedding" - a private ceremony without any official meaning. Luckily, I think not many couples here do the "the groom has to get the bouquet" tradition anymore - because you are totally right: It is stupid, the day is stressful enough for the groom and it does not matter who gets the bouquet. It is pre-ordered anyway ... I don't think ANY groom in Germany chooses the flowers (if he don't happen to be a florist ;) ). That is NOT a thing anymore. The (diamond) engagement ring is also a thing in Germany, but I think the diamont is not such a big thing there as in the US - it CAN have diamonds, but it does not need them. Also, some wedding rings have (mostly small!) diamonds, some don't. Oh, and the engagement ring is worn left, the wedding ring right, but some people wear their rings just where they like. Not such a big thing here ... some people also wear them hanging on a necklace after the wedding because they can't wear rings at work for safety reasons.

Again, like many traditions in Germany the Polterabend/the 'rumble evening' goes back to times when virtually everyone held some kind of superstition. Breaking porcelain was to do with the marital spats and fights that might occur during their married life. Instead of them fighting and throwing around the dishes at each other, the guests BEFORE the actual ceremony did that for them. At least in my region it was the duty of the engaged couple to clean it up themselves. Either to demonstrate what an aweful mess this creates (like a bad example showing them not to do it), or like warding off evil spirits or even the devil who was believed to cause such fights between spouses. I've heard of rumors that this tradition went back to times when ceramic plates were the fanciest dinnerware available, thus very highly valued. Which again was to sacrifice something valuable BEFORE an actual fight occurred to placate evil spirits or the devil instead of the marriage.

While modern internet "wisdom" tells you that it was Queen Victoria who came up with the white wedding dress in 1840, the symbol of white = pure = virgin is much much older, several thousand years actually, and the first whitish wedding dress in Europe was worn by Maria de Medici in 1620. Since then it was a tradition for European aristocracy to have white wedding dresses, which couldn't be afforded by the poor. It took until the 1920s in Germay until white wedding dresses became more common. Broken porcellain & glass means luck, which is said when You accidentially break a plate or drinking glass. Breaking a mirror causes 7 years of bad luck in contrast. Heaps of broken old plates and yes, sometimes even (new) toilets, is really a thing on a "Polterabend" in Germany. The courthouse wedding is the secular one, and it is the only secular one in Germany. No silly "wedding chapels" etc. like in Las Vegas. A church wedding is optional, but both have to be true religious belivers, or the priest won't marry them. It is nothing impromptu, though. For a true and meaninful church wedding, both partners have to meet the priest in advance, discuss the ways of a christian family life etc. At least that's how it is done in the Catholic church. The modern TV "show"-weddings are nothing but that - a show. Hollow and meaningless...only superficially related to a true wedding.

There are many more customs on a wedding. For example, the couple saws a piece off a tree trunk, or the bride wears a band around her upper leg, she sits on a chair and the groom has to kneel in front of her and has to remove the band underneath her dress from her leg with his teeth.

Yes everthing what is out of Porzelan xD But mostly plates and Cubs. We also have two rings. We wear an engagement ring on the left ring finger. And when we get married, the wedding ring will be on the right. And the rings also have diamonds (usually the wedding ring). But that's individual for each one, the main thing is that it's somehow unique. And the clothes aren't always white either. And they all look individual. So the length is often not down to the ground. I didn't know that the man would choose the bouquet of flowers either. XD is also individual here. But we also traditionally have 4 things that the bride gets. A borrowed piece of clothing or jewelry or something that the bride wears to the wedding, something blue, something new and something old.

The church part is optional and really depends on your religion (or no religion as in my case).

Toilet smashing is extremely dangerous sais the person living in a country with celebratory gun fire 😂

Since the "Courthouse" wedding (Standesamtliche Trauung) is mandatory for a marriage to be legally recognized, for a long time the only reason to have a second *ceremony* was if you wanted to have a religious one (Kirchliche Trauung). If you opted out of a religious ceremony, you would just have your party at a venue after the legal wedding. However, couples have started to go for personalized casual ceremonies (Freie Trauung). That practice is relatively new, but many Standesämter have also been offering legal weddings at special locations for an extra fee (local castles often offer themselves as venues, for example). So these are two ways to have a more fancy wedding without involving religion.

5:08 The white Wedding Dress was "invented" by Queen Victoria of England. There where some white wedding dresses before her, but it wasn't the norm. But after she wore a white dress at her wedding in 1840, it became a tradition.

1. Shards bring luck because back in time when the phrase originated "Scherben" (shards) was a word used for pots. So it originaly ment that having a lot of intact pots, filled usualy with preserved food, was lucky because you would not have to be hungy in the near future. What makes much more sense. But because of how the language changed over time the phrase turned to the opposit. 2. I was at a wedding last years that was just held at a restaurant with a beergarden instead of a church. Two weeks after the legal marriage 3. My mom was "kidnapped" at her wedding and she said it was annoying and she was pissed because the wedding was already stressfull and then they delay everything like that. It luckily did not take too long

As a German I have never heard of broken toilets used at a Polterabend. Maybe if one of the fiances have a plumming company in the family and they have those to get rid of.

It's not just specifically porcelain shards that are thought to bring luck in Germany but shards in general, we have an old saying that goes "Scherben bringen Glück" (shards bring luck) which is most often used to make someone feel better (or also tease them) after breaking something.

We also have weddings at venues with an registrar usually the courthouse offers some places for exzra money like a nearby castle

Wedding Ring, right hand... I am guessing many, many, many studies about this have been made. Why the right hand? Well, I go for occam razor, the easiest and simple one. The right hand is the first thing that you see, "approaches" you, shaking hands, saying "hello". Right from the go..you can see...married.

Ryan, the Polterabend (where they break porcelain) is true! I've participated in a few when friends got married, and it was always fun.

At the Polterabend, porcelain dishes get smashed, not "toilets" (OK, if your friend is a plumber, maybe, but otherwise not)! People save up old mismatched plates, cups etc. for this purpose or buy some from a flea market. Glass is bad luck and is not included in the pile of "Scherben".

I‘m from Germany and I wear my Wedding ring on the left hand. All my family and many friends do so as well.

Engagement ring on the left hand, the wedding ring on the right hand. And the thing with the cake slice do not work in Germany. Our traditions are much older than the fridges..

This is for the countryside, not in big cities: On the day of the official wedding ceremony at the town hall (mostly on a thursday or friday) the party at that very same night is very casual. Means it is in the countryside very often. Open air at a fireplace or small sports area you rent. With BBQ, loud music. Everyone can come. No invitations, open ending - so a lot of friends and neighbours or members from the same club are coming. This is called "Polterabend". Polter as in "Poltergeist" which means "making rumbling noise". And how do you make roubling noise? Right - with throwing your dishes on the floor in front of the couples main door. It's a custom that might bring luck. Or is it only done to lure them out so the party can finally start? Who knows... :-) The thing about toilets is an escalation level :-). The very next day instead is very formal. Wedding in the church begins at about two a clock in the afternoon. Everyone is shitfaced from sitting at the fireplace until 6am and whishes to let the church pass to get drinks again. In that formal party usually only invited guests take part. You have suits and dresses and very often it is very planned by a wedding planner.

On my moms wedding everyone thought the bride got stolen. It turned out later that she was actually just secretly smoking, because she was stressed. that wedding was chaotic 😂

Did soneone mention the SCHLEIERDANCE? T The veil is unfolded and held by four persons over the head of the bride. If a man wants to dance with her under the veil, he throws money on the veil first. This ought to be the first money for the household.

Mostly it is old pottery which is broken at Polterabend. The saying "Scherben bringen Glück" did originally not mean "shards bring luck" in the current sense, because "Scherbe" referred originally simply to (fired) pottery, whether broken or not. The custom has however maybe also roots in a rite to make place for the new by breaking the old - you usually break only old pots, plates and cups. And the noise made by the breaking announced the start of the wedding celebrations. The custom exists in some form or other at least since medieval times. The party is traditionally hold before the house of the bride (respectively her parents). The date is announced by the wedding couple, but no invitation is made. Everybody can attend, inclusively people not invited to the wedding itself. Often the guests bring the beer and wine with them, the hosts will only serve something simple like a chicken broth (which can easily extended by putting more water into it). The couple has the task to dispose of the shards as a first shared task.

After watching the video I am even more aware than before that my husband and I had quite the non-traditional wedding. And I'm happy about it! --- Engagement rings (with huge diamonds) are also very common in Germany. However, most women wear it on the left hand (like in America) instead of at the same finger as the wedding band.

i dont know about Germany but in Greece we wear the engagment rings in the left hand ( its a tradition from the ancient times, i think i read somewhere it comes from Egypt symbolizing the ring connecting to the vein of the heart or something like that) but at the wedding we swich the rings to right hand because its the hand we use to do the cross when we pray.. many women like me we have wedding ring in right hand and the ring ( they one we gotten proposed , if there is one) on the left

I am a German when I got married all the planning like flowers dress cakes etc was done by my wife and her mother my mother and our sisters. They were really interested in this stuff. The Polterabend was arranged by our friends we don’t destroy anything it was a big party and is not as formal as the wedding party with mostly people in our age.

As a German I now realize we did almost everything wrong with our wedding. We did not smash any toilets, there was no kidnapping involved, the groom did not pick the flowers and as far as I know no myrtle anywhere. We did not have a church ceremony just a civil one and 5 years later a renewal of the vows at a location by the sea. Only the rings resemble those shown in the video. It is also a little bit misleading not to differentiate between different areas since the real traditions are mostly only in small areas.

She forgot to mention that at the Polterabend all the broken porcelain has to be cleaned up by the couple alone until midnight to bring luck. Otherwise the marriage starts off with bad luck, if they fail to work together. So sometimes if someone really wants to test the couple, they will unload a whole truckload of toilets. That's seen as funny, but pretty mean though.

A courthouse wedding nowadays CAN happen at a venue, but they have to be officially pre-approved and differ from city to city. You can't just have a city official show up in your garden and marry you, and you also can't get certified to marry someone by some obscure denomination -- or god forbid, online. And kidnapping the bride can get pretty expensive; I've attended weddings where the groom's friends tour ALL the pubs and bars have a drink at each and wait for the groom to catch up. However, they leave without paying, and the groom has to pay all the tabs as he follows. It's called "die Braut auslösen", or "paying the bride's ransom".

German here. No, toilet throwing is real. Most people though tell their guests to not bring those items. The Polterabend: is not only for Luck with the shards of Porcelan, but the cleaning is done by the the bride and groom only to symbolize their ability to work together as a team. Ribbons: don't have to be white, they can be all colors. Most cars are decorated by flowers, too. Engagement rings: We usually don't have engagement rings. It is simply not done here.

We do not freeze the cake. I tried to rebake a smaller version for hubby and me at our anniversary, though. I think I succeded mostly in copying. /Edit: I think these large wedding rings are tacky. We chose a plain band without diamonds (these stones are just a huge scam, google it, there are so many documentaries on the topic). But we could not resist to make them speciulll by choosing a different material. Tantalum. When hubby and I learned about it, we looked at each other and both knew, we were hooked. We did not have a Polterabned btw. We live in a rental appartment and our parents live too far away to celebrate there.