Italian Wedding Traditions: All About Customs & Celebrations
An Italian couple takes a post-wedding stroll. Photo Credit: Wiskow & White
Food, love, and family are the pillars of the Italian community. So it’s no surprise that all three play a big role in an Italian wedding!
Much like an Italian bridal shower, Italian wedding traditions incorporate these three pillars to create a memorable and inclusive day. Let’s look at some common wedding traditions in Italian culture.
Pre-Wedding Traditions
The Engagement ("La Promessa")
In Italian culture, the groom will need to ask for the bride’s name in marriage with his family at his side.
The two families meet to formalize the engagement, exchange rings, and sometimes sign a pledge committing the two lovebirds to the union.
Traditionally, the groom presents a diamond ring to symbolize eternity and enduring love. This gesture also demonstrates his ability to care for his bride and future family.
The Serenade ("La Serenata")
On the eve of the wedding, the bride receives a romantic musical surprise! The groom will serenade her from beneath her window. Friends and family join in with flowers, gifts, and musical accompaniment.
This represents love, commitment, and the groom’s devotion to his future wife.
Choosing the Wedding Date
Auspicious Days
When choosing a wedding date, Italians often choose Sundays. It’s considered the luckiest day to marry, representing prosperity and fertility. It also is already set aside for weekly family gatherings, so everyone is likely to attend.
Families also choose special dates with numerological significance or family importance.
Seven is considered a holy number, making it highly sought after as a wedding day. Couples may also choose an existing wedding date for an ancestor or elder for luck.
Days to Avoid
In Italian culture, May is associated with bad luck, so few couples choose to wed in that month. August is considered a vacation month, so families avoid choosing a date so all family members and friends can attend.
Bridal Attire and Superstitions
A couple poses In front of the Trevi Fountain in Italy. Photo Credit: News 24
The Bridal Gown
Italian brides wear traditional white dresses to symbolize purity and new beginnings. She will also wear a long veil to protect against the evil eye and bad spirits.
Since many Italians get married in a religious setting, the dress must be modest. This often means high necklines, long sleeves, and no peek-a-boo details.
However, brides may choose to change into a more modern dress as she dances the night away at her reception. Finally, gold jewelry is to be avoided before the wedding day as a superstition.
Lucky Items
Cultures around the world are familiar with the wedding day rhyme, “Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue.” Italians participate in this superstition by ensuring the bride has something from each category.
The old item represents continuity with the past. The new one reflects optimism for the future. Borrowed items are taken from happily married women for borrowed happiness. Finally, the color blue is synonymous with fidelity and love.
The bride will also carry a small satin bag with her throughout the reception. This is used to hold the cash gifts guests slip into her hand as they congratulate her on her big day.
The groom may receive such gifts as well, however, he will pass them off to his new wife to hold in her pouch!
Avoiding Self-View
Italian brides avoid looking at themselves fully dressed in their bridal outfits before the ceremony. This superstition is a protective measure: it prevents bad luck and ensures a harmonious marriage.
Groom's Traditions
The Suit
Italian grooms opt for classic attire. Think dark suits or full tuxedos. Sometimes the groom will wear lighter colors if it is a warm-weather wedding. They will wear cufflinks or a watch that is gifted by the bride prior to the ceremony.
Pre-Wedding Customs
The groom should never see the bride before the ceremony. This is considered bad luck, as his first view of her should be as she walks down the aisle.
During the reception, the groom’s tie is cut into pieces and auctioned off to the guests. The money collected is contributed to the honeymoon fund.
The Wedding Ceremony
A bride and her father walking down the aisle among guests. Photo Credit: Mile Square Moments.
Church Weddings
Italian wedding ceremonies always take place in a church. Many Italians are Catholic, so they host elaborate ceremonies in their local church or a nearby cathedral.
The sanctuaries are decorated with flowers and ribbons on the ends of the pews. Some brides opt to play out a beautiful runner along the aisle as well.
The Procession
In some regions, the couple walks to the church together. Guests may place symbolic barriers in their path, like stones, steps, or wood planks, to test the couple’s readiness to tackle all of life’s challenges together.
Ribbon Cutting
At the entrance of the church, a ribbon is tied across the doorway. The couple, upon arrival, will cut the ribbon and enter the church. This represents unity and the official start of their life together.
Post-Ceremony Traditions
A happy couple is showered in rice after their vows. Photo Credit: Yachts for all Seasons
Throwing Rice or Confetti
After the ceremony, the bride and groom will greet each guest as they leave the church. Once the sanctuary is clear, the guests will shower the couple with rice or confetti on their way to their car.
This represents prosperity and good wishes. Rice is traditionally thrown, but more eco-friendly alternatives include paper confetti, grains, or rose petals.
Release of Doves or Balloons
Another tradition is to release doves or balloons after the couple has exchanged vows. Doves symbolize peace and love. Balloons represent the couple’s hops and dreams soaring to new heights!
Regional Traditions
Northern Italy
In Northern areas of Italy, the groom purchases and delivers a bouquet of flowers as his final gift before marriage. This “bride’s bouquet” is a coveted tradition that many young girls look forward to!
This region also believes that winter weddings are the luckiest of all. That’s because snow is considered a sign of wealth and fertility. Plus, the ability to throw a celebration during the lean winter months is seen as a status symbol.
Southern Italy
In the South, specific regions, like Puglia, perform special dances. La Taranta is the most popular! There are also elaborate wedding processions where musicians lead the way from the ceremony to the reception.
Guests follow, dancing along the path while community members look on and cheer good wishes.
Superstitions and Symbolic Gestures
Protecting Against the Evil Eye ("Malocchio")
In Italian culture, the evil eye, or Malocchio, is seen as a big threat. So brides and grooms will wear amulets or charms to ward it off. The most popular varieties are red coral or horn-shaped charms worn on silver chains.
Some choose to wear an eye-shaped icon as a bracelet or ring. These charms also act as a deflection for bad luck.
Italians will also wear red undergarments or sprinkle salt over their right shoulder to cause the evil eye to turn away from them and their loved ones.
Breaking Glass
Another way to ward off evil spirits is to make loud noises. So the happy couple will smash a vase or glass prior to the reception to scare away bad omens.
The number of shards represents the years of happiness, so the more pieces it breaks into, the better! When planning a wedding for Italian heritage, be sure to leave room in your budget for plenty of glass!
Post-Wedding Customs
A musical trio plays for the bridal procession. Photo Credit: SposiamoVi
Carrying the Bride Over the Threshold
After the wedding concludes, there are more rituals meant to ensure the couple starts their journey together on a positive note. The groom will carry the bride over the threshold of their hotel room or home.
This prevents evil spirits from entering the hold. It also ensures she doesn’t trip as she enters, which is seen as bad luck.
Finally, giving the bride a lift is a symbol of protection. It shows that the groom is strong enough to carry her through any rocky moments and act as her protector.
First Night Traditions
After the ceremony, there are also a number of traditions for the first night of the marriage. The couple will embark on their Luna di Miele or honeymoon.
This phrase translates directly to “moon of honey,” which signifies the sweetness of an early marriage. As the couple spends their first night together, immediate family members will gather to continue the festivities late into the night.
They will greet the couple the next morning with shouts of well wishes, unless the couple is traveling, of course!
Bomboniere
At the end of the festivities, it is customary to give the guests a bomboniere or wedding favors as a thank you for attending the event. Traditionally, this is a bag of sugar-coated almonds known as Jordan Almonds.
These are counted in an odd number for good luck. In the past, these were also thrown at the bride and groom as they left their reception, but now guests usually chow down on them on the way home!
Wrapping Up the Ceremony
Italian wedding traditions offer a rich blend of history, superstition, and heartfelt customs that add depth and meaning to the celebration.
Embracing these traditions can create a truly unique and memorable wedding experience that honors both love and heritage.