Cultural Differences, Cultural Understanding, Cultural Unity

1
Cultural Differences, Cultural Understanding,
Cultural Unity
2
Cultural Differences, Cultural Understanding,
Cultural Unity

• Each of us shines in a different way, but this
  doesn't
• make our light less bright.
• Albert Einstein German-American physicist
• Cultural differences should not separate us from
• each other, but rather cultural diversity brings
  a
• collective strength that can benefit all of
  humanity.
• Robert Alan American writer, artist and
  social activist

3
Saying I do.

• To have and to hold
• from this day forward,
• for better or for worse,
• for richer, for poorer,
• in sickness and in health,
• to love and to cherish
• till death do us part.

4
What to wear?

• Traditionally the bride wears

• White (of course!) a symbol of purity and
  virginity.
• Blue an ancient symbol of purity.
• Red maybe it just looks really good!
• Black but not too sure what theyd wear to a
  funeral.

5
What to wear?

• OK, so the bride
• wears a white dress
• and veil and the
• groom wears
• something dark.
• Right?

6
What to wear?

• Well, not necessarily

7
What to wear?

• Many traditional bridal costumes in Eastern
• Europe are (or were) very colourful. These two
• Bulgarian costumes are from the late-18th and
  19th
• Centuries.

8
What to wear?

• While your traditional
• Hungarian bride and
• groom are also very
• colourfully dressed.

9
What to wear?

• Red is a popular
• choice for many
• traditional Turkish
• brides.

10
What to wear? or pink
11
What to wear?

• or even a nice white dress
• with a cloak in burgundy and
• gold.

12
What to wear?

• An Irish bride is just as likely to wear a
  blue wedding dress as a white one, as blue
  symbolised purity in ancient times.

13
What to wear?

• In Spain a traditional
• bride might wear black,
• and black is often
• associated with married
• women in much of
• Europe.
• Despite this,

14
What to wear?

• when Crown Prince Felipe of Spain
• married Letizia Ortiz in 2004, like most
• modern Spaniards (and arguably most
• modern brides and grooms), they broke
• with tradition and

15
What to wear?

• the bride wore white
• (including her veil) and
• the groom wore
• well, something dark.

16
What to wear?

• And so it seems that, for
• better or for worse, this
• particular cultural
• difference is giving way
• to rather a lot of cultural
• unity!

17
What to wear?

• Apart from in Scotland,
• where the groom may
• not necessarily wear the
• traditional dark suit at
• all.

18
Who will wear the pants?

• Speaking of which
• There are a variety of traditions by
• which people may try to determine who
• will be the dominant partner in the new
• relationship who will wear the pants.

19
Who will wear the pants?

• When you meet someone who can
• cook and do housework don't
• hesitate a minute marry him.
• Anonymous

20
Who will wear the pants?

• In which country is the bride most likely to
  go shopping as soon as she leaves the church in
  order to take the upper hand in the relationship?

• Germany
• Bulgaria
• c) Austria

21
Who will wear the pants?

• In Germany
• When the couple are kneeling, exchanging
• vows, the groom may kneel on his brides
• wedding dress to show her whos boss.
• When they stand up, she may stand on his
• foot to show him that hes wrong!

22
Who will wear the pants?

• In Bulgaria
• Once the official wedding papers are signed
• the wedding custom of stepping occurs.
• Whoever steps on the others foot first will
• dominate and provide for the new family.

23
Who will wear the pants?

• Also in Bulgaria
• The grooms mother holds a loaf of
  freshly-baked bread over her head and invites the
  bride and groom to each pull one end of it
  whichever one gets the bigger piece will have the
  biggest role in the new family.

24
Who will wear the pants?

• In Austria
• It is said that the first partner to buy a new
  item
• after the wedding will be the dominant one in the
  
• relationship. Many brides ensure that they make
• the first purchase by arranging to buy a small
  item
• such as a pin from a bridesmaid immediately after
  
• the ceremony.

25
Speaking of money

• Marriage is an
• expensive business.
• However, many cultures
• have found ways to help
• lessen the costs of a
• honeymoon and setting
• up house, not to
• mention the wedding
• itself

26
Speaking of money

• In which country might you be expected to put
  money in the brides shoe?

• Germany
• Hungary
• Portugal
• Poland

27
Speaking of money

• The Money Dance
• In some places money is pinned to the bride
  and groom as they are dancing, e.g. Cyprus and
  Poland.
• In other countries guests pay to dance with
  the bride, e.g. Italy and Slovakia.

28
Speaking of money

• In Hungary
• money is dropped into the brides shoe, which
  is in the middle of the floor, to pay for a dance
  with the bride.
• While in Portugal
• wedding guests stuff money into the brides
  shoe, which is passed around.

29
Speaking of money

• In Poland (and other places)
• More traditionally, the maid of honour wears
  an apron and collects the money given by the
  guests to dance with the bride.
• In some places, after everyone has danced
  with the bride, the groom will throw his wallet
  into the apron, thus outbidding all the others.

30
Speaking of money

• In all these cases the guests are expected to
  be generous.

31
Speaking of money

• In which country might the bridesmaids collect
  money for the poor?

• Germany
• the Netherlands
• Belgium
• Sweden

32
Speaking of money

• In Germany
• As the newlyweds leave the wedding chapel,
  they throw coins to the children watching.
• While in Belgium
• The bridesmaids traditionally take up a
  collection of coins and as the bride and groom
  exit the church, the bridesmaids toss the coins
  to the poor outside. Giving gifts of money to the
  poor helps to ensure prosperity for the new bride
  and groom.

33
Help!! Im being kidnapped!

• Wales
• Slovakia
• Poland
• Latvia
• Finland

• In which country
• (or countries)
• might the bride
• be kidnapped?

34
Help!! Im being kidnapped!

• In Finland
• It is quite common for the grooms friends
  (often dressed as gangsters) to kidnap the bride
  during the reception and hold her hostage until
  their demands are met.

35
Help!! Im being kidnapped!

• Similar bride kidnappings are also quite
  common in Germany and Slovakia, where it is
  customary for the best man to steal the bride
  from the reception and take her to a local pub,
  where they drink beer or champagne until the
  groom finds them.
• Then the groom has to pay for all that
  they drank a good incentive to rescue her
  quickly!

36
Help!! Im being kidnapped!

• In Latvia
• The bride is sometimes kidnapped by the
  groomsmen and the groom has to pay a ransom to
  get her back. The ransom, however, may only be a
  round of drinks, or even just a song.

37
Help!! Im being kidnapped!

• In Poland
• A variation on the kidnapping theme in Poland
  is that after all the guests have danced with the
  bride, they form a tight circle around her, and
  the groom tries to break through the circle while
  the guests try hard to keep him out. Once he
  breaks through, he picks up his bride and carries
  her away from the wedding reception.
• Just who has kidnapped the bride the guests
  or the groom is the question here.

38
Help!! Im being kidnapped!

• In Wales
• The Welsh have a somewhat different bride
  kidnapping tradition. The brides family kidnaps
  her just before the wedding ceremony. The groom
  and his family follow in pursuit and whoever
  catches the bride-to-be first will marry within a
  year.
• More about this idea later

39
Help!! Im being kidnapped!

• Similar bride kidnapping traditions are
  fairly common throughout much of Eastern Europe,
  and may be vestiges of customs that date back to
  much earlier times.

40
Choosing the next victim/volunteer

• To find out who will be married next, the
  bride traditionally throws what?

• the groom
• her bouquet
• her veil
• her garter

41
Choosing the next victim/volunteer

• In Britain, and some other countries, it is
  traditional for the bride to throw her bouquet to
  the unmarried women. The one who catches the
  bouquet will be the next to get married.

42
Choosing the next victim/volunteer

• In Britain it is also traditional for the
  bride, or sometimes the groom, to throw the
  brides garter to the unmarried men. The one who
  catches the garter will be the next to get
  married.

43
Choosing the next victim/volunteer

• In some cultures, especially in Eastern
  Europe, at the wedding reception, the brides
  veil is removed and is replaced with the
  headdress of a married woman.
• In some of these traditions it is common for
  the bride to throw her veil to the unmarried
  women and the one who catches it is thought to be
  the next to be wed.

44
Let them eat cake!

• In which country might the top tier of the
  wedding cake be expected to last more than a year?

• France
• Denmark
• Slovakia
• Great Britain

45
Let them eat cake!

• In most of Western
• Europe multi-tiered,
• highly decorated cakes
• are a central part of the
• wedding reception.
• In some traditions part of
• the wedding cake is
• retained and eaten by the
• bride and groom on their
• first wedding anniversary.

46
Let them eat cake!

• Cutting the wedding cake is
• very important. It should be
• done with both the bride and
• groom cutting the cake
• together a symbol of their
• working together through
• life.
• After the first cut another
• person may then finish cutting
• the cake and distribute the
• pieces to the assembled
• guests.

47
Let them eat cake!

• In Britain the top tier
• of the cake the
• christening cake
• is kept for the
• celebration of the
• christening of the
• bride and grooms
• first child.

48
Let them eat cake!

• In Slovakia, there is no
• special wedding cake, though
• there may be a large number
• of various kinds of small cakes
• (kolaciky) served to the
• guests.
• Any kolaciky not eaten at the
• reception may be boxed up
• and handed out to guests as
• they leave or given to friends
• who were unable to attend.

49
Let them eat cake!

• Throughout much of Eastern Europe, where the
  traditional wedding cake is not a common part of
  the wedding celebrations, bread and salt take its
  place.

50
Let them eat cake!

• The bread represents the hope that the bride
  and groom will never go hungry. The salt is a
  reminder that life may be difficult at times, but
  that they will learn to cope by working together.

51
Cultural Differences, Cultural Understanding,
Cultural Unity

• There are, of course many more very
  interesting cultural differences, and not just
  associated with weddings.
• If we all know a little about each other and
  each others cultures we will all understand each
  other better. This does not mean that we will
  necessarily like each other more (though
  hopefully, of course we will) but it will at
  least help us to find ways of working together
  more easily.

52
Thank you

• We hope that you have enjoyed this short
  presentation and that it has given you some food
  for thought.

53
Thank you

• Çok tesekkür ederim Tack så mycket Gura
  mie eu Mange tak Moltes gràcies
  Labai aciu
• Dekuji vám mnohokrát ???a??st? p???
• Vielen Dank Muchas gracias Diolch yn
  fawr iawn
• Obrigado Go raibh míle maith agat Danke
  schön
• ????????? ?? ????? Liels paldies Grazzi
  hafna
• Paljon kiitoksia Þakka þér fyrir Köszönöm
  szépen Tänan teid Villmols merci
  Serdecznie dziekuje
• Dank U zeer Multumesc foarte mult
  Grazie mille
• Dakujem velmi pekne Najlepa hvala vam
• Tusen takk Merci beaucoup Taing mhór