Czech wedding traditions: what they mean and how to make them your own

Wedding traditions don't have to feel like a museum. Most Czech customs started out as a joke or a little test for the newlyweds, and that's exactly how they work best today. Pick two or three that suit you and feel free to skip the rest.

Before the ceremony

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

Borrowed from the English-speaking world and now common in Czechia too. Old stands for family (grandma's brooch), new for the new chapter, borrowed for luck from a happily married friend and blue for faithfulness. A nice way to get the people closest to you involved.

The groom mustn't see the bride in her dress

Once a superstition, today more a question of whether you want a first look: a moment alone together before the ceremony, often with the photographer nearby. It calms the nerves, and the photos tend to be the most honest of the whole day.

At the ceremony

Throwing rice or petals

Rice stood for fertility and plenty. Most venues no longer allow it (it's slippery and stays in the grass), so couples swap it for petals, dried lavender or bubbles.

The blocked path

Friends stretch a rope or ribbon across the way and the newlyweds have to "buy" their way through, with a bottle or by answering a question. Short, and it looks great in photos.

At the table

Smashing a plate and sweeping up

The most typical Czech tradition of all. A plate is broken at the couple's feet and they have to sweep up the pieces together. How they split the job is said to show who will run the household. Friends love kicking the shards back.

Soup from one bowl

The newlyweds share a bowl of soup, often with a single spoon, feeding each other. It means that from now on they share everything. On the practical side: a napkin around the neck, and soup that isn't too hot.

Wedding kolache

In Moravia and many Czech regions they're a must: small round pastries filled with sweet curd cheese, poppy seed or plum jam, handed out to guests and neighbours. A dessert table often takes their place now, but grandma's kolache still win.

Afternoon and evening

Kidnapping the bride

The best man or a group of friends "kidnap" the bride, usually to a nearby pub, and the groom has to find her and pay a ransom, often by settling the bar tab or completing a few tasks. It works when it's agreed in advance and kept short. A bride who disappears for an hour in the middle of the party is more of a punishment for the guests.

Tossing the bouquet and the garter

The bouquet goes to the unmarried women, the garter to the unmarried men. Whoever catches it is supposedly next. Have a smaller "throwing" bouquet made so you can take your real one home.

The bonnet ceremony (čepení)

At midnight the bride's wreath or veil used to be taken off and replaced with a bonnet, the sign of a married woman. Today it's done with a sense of humour: her friends make a "bonnet" out of whatever is to hand and sing along. If you like, turn it around and give the groom one too.

Carrying the bride over the threshold

The groom carries the bride over the threshold of their new home. The old belief was that evil spirits lurked under the doorstep and the bride mustn't trip. These days it's often done at the entrance to the reception, which photographers love.

New traditions being born right now

• Time capsule letters. Guests write letters the couple open on their first or fifth anniversary.
• Planting a tree. Instead of, or as well as, breaking a plate, you plant a tree together.
• A shared album. Every guest takes photos and uploads them to one album via a QR code on the table. By the next morning you have hundreds of pictures from angles the photographer never saw.
• A wine box. A bottle of wine and letters to each other, sealed in a box until your first big argument or an anniversary.

Looking for more ideas for the party? Have a look at 35 wedding games and activities guests actually enjoy.