German Traditions
Ask your guests to perform sketches or get other guests to join in games at the reception

  • At village weddings it's common for the guests to congregate at the bride's parents' house and walk in pairs with them to the church. Any children and single couples are in the front, followed by the bride and groom and finally all the married couples

  • A week or so before the wedding, a joint hen/stag night is usually held called a 'polterabend'. All the couple’s friends are invited and bring bits of crockery or porcelain to smash on the ground to bring good luck by driving away evil spirits (hence ‘poltergeist’)

  • Place banknotes in flower arrangements

  • Ask guests to lay fir boughs in front of you as you leave the ceremony, to pave your way with hope, luck, and fertility

  • During the ceremony, when the couple kneel, the groom may kneel on the bride's hem to show that he'll keep her in line. The bride may step on his foot when she rises, to reassert herself