Some American wedding traditions are almost universal, such as the bride wearing a long beautiful dress and the groom wearing a nice suit or tuxedo, the exchanging of rings during the wedding ceremony, the bride carrying a bouquet of flowers, and so on. But there are other wedding traditions in America that are more individual and culturally specific, but which are common enough to be worth mentioning.
At many traditionally African-American weddings, after the wedding ceremony has been completed the couple “jumps the broom” before walking out of the ceremony together. This literally involves both the bride and groom jumping over a broom. Today these brooms are often decorated with ribbon. This tradition goes back to the days of slavery in the United States when slaves were forbidden to marry. Slaves created their own ritual of jumping over a broom to represent the beginning of marriage or married life.
Many traditional Jewish-American weddings take place under a small canopy, which symbolizes the home that the new couple will build together. The end of a Jewish wedding ceremony also involves the groom breaking a glass with his foot. This act has religious significance. It is done to remember the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, but many also joke that this symbolizes the last time the groom will be able to put his foot down* in the marriage.
After an American wedding ceremony there is almost always a wedding reception or party, which is an opportunity to celebrate the new couple. This party often has a very predictable schedule.
A wedding reception usually begins with a happy hour of drinks and talking among guests at the party venue. During this time the bride and groom take their wedding pictures and they don’t usually arrive until the very end of the happy hour; this is really a cocktail hour for guests. Then, the party moves to a new phase in which people sit down for a meal. At this time the wedding party (the bridesmaids, groomsmen, family, and bride and groom) are announced and are welcomed into the reception one-by-one. This is followed usually by toasts** to the new couple. Then people eat the meal. The meal is followed by dancing. The ‘first dance’ of the now married husband and wife happens first. Next comes a dance between the bride with her father and the groom with his mother. Then everyone is invited to dance. After dancing for some time the wedding cake is cut and the bride and groom feed each other the first slice of cake before the guests are served cake. At the very end of the reception the bride often throws away her bouquet of flowers and sometimes the groom throws away the bride’s garter***. It is a common superstition at American weddings that whoever catches the bouquet and garter will be the next people to marry.
*put your foot down = to assert authority
**toast = an act in which a drink is raised and nice comments are said about a person
***garter= a narrow bands of fabric worn on the upper leg, used to keep up stockings
