a traditional Mexican wedding

With growing up in the Catholic church and attending numerous weddings, I wanted to find out about the different traditions that are involved.

The following are elements that help to make a traditional Mexican wedding a success.

Clothing:

• The groom and groomsmen will often wear tight black pants with an embroidered bolero jacket. If you are having a hard time picturing this think of what a bullfighter wears.
• The bride will stitch three ribbons (yellow, blue and red) into her lingerie for good luck. The colored ribbons will make sure that there is the availability of food, money and passion for many years to come.
• Some brides will not carry a bouquet of flowers instead she will carry a colorful fan.
• It is believed that if a bride wears a strand of pearls on her wedding day, it is considered to be bad luck. The pearls will symbolize tears that the bride will shed while the couple is married.
• The bride will wear a mantilla veil. Her dress may be inspired by a dress that a flamenco dancer may wear. The dress will have lots of ruffles and possibly colorful embroidery.
• The bride will wear white a dress and most likely that bridesmaid’s will wear red or another color that will stand out.
  

Those involved:

• The Padrinos (or Godparents): Will not only provide emotional and financial support for the couple. They will be involved during the ceremony, whether they are doing a reading or presenting the couple with a bible or rosary and they also will be recognized in the program.
  

During the ceremony:

• Most weddings will include a full mass. Catholic weddings are never held outside.
• After the bride and groom have exchanged their vows, a cord, white ribbon or a string with rosary beads will be placed around the necks of the bride and groom. This is a symbol of unity and is a traditional aspect of a Catholic ceremony.
• Towards the end of the ceremony, the bride will either offer her bouquet or the bouquet that the flower girl to the Virgin Mary. During the offering of the flowers, the bride will ask the Virgin Mary to bless her marriage. Then the bride will return to the altar, the priest will give one final blessing which will indicate that the ceremony is over.
• During the ceremony, the groom will give his bride thirteen gold coins. These thirteen gold coins are a representation of the groom’s commitment to the marriage and support his wife. With the bride accepting the coins, it symbolizes her commitment to take care of him.
  

After the ceremony:

• During the first dance, friends and family will form a heart around the couple.
• Friends and family will sing La Vibora de la Mar to the couple while going underneath a bridge formed by the bride and groom. At the end of this song, the bride and groom will toss the bouquet and the garter.
• The cake which some people think is the most important part of the wedding will be a rum cake with either pineapple, pecans and coconut filling.
• Dinner will consist of shredded chicken or beef, rice, beans, tortillas. Instead of wine or champagne, sangria will be served.
• There may be a piñata (made out of paper mache) either in the shape of a heart or the couple’s favorite animal will be filled with candy for the children at the reception.