Wedding Traditions of Sweden

A Swedish couple weds at Oland island in the Baltic sea, at Santa Birgittas Chapel at Kapelludden, Sweden. (Michael Sandberg)

A wedding today in Sweden can be a small intimate one in a church or at a location the couple chooses, or a big wedding ceremony. Some couples even escape to a remote tropical island and many couples get married before the registrar.

Most of the brides today wear white dresses, but there are also some who choose a different colour and style.

The traditional dress is black and was used for festivities and special occasions, however for the wedding the dress was beautifully decorated with silk shawls, garlands of flowers, handmade laces, beads and glass pearls and colourful ribbons made of silk. The crown was often decorated with a garland of myrtle. A bridal veil was used in white colour.

It is custom that before the wedding the couple goes to a photographer to take pictures and then to the church, which is often decorated with flowers and in summertime also with branches from birch trees.

After the wedding ceremony, the guests gather outside the church to wish happiness by throwing grains of rice over the couple.

Often the couple then drives away to the location where the party is held in an exclusive car or it could be even a carriage with a horse.

During the wedding dinner, Swedes sing songs together between the toasts and speeches. The dance starts after the dinner, and the first one is started by the newly wed couple and is a waltz.

After the wedding night the wife is given a gift called in Swedish for ”morgongåva” and literally means “morning gift.” In the old times the husband who had the means gave something expensive. The gift used to be a kind of insurance for the woman if something would happen to her husband. In modern times the gift is normally jewelry and not everyone follows this tradition.

Swedes also have several adages about weddings:

“If the bride wears a silver coin in her shoe, there will never be a shortage of money in the home.”

“Rain or snow on the wedding day means that the couple will become rich.”

Swedes also have the tradition of wearing something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Wearing something old has a connection to the family history and means optimism ad hope for the new life. To wearsomething borrowed is meant to remember all the friends, and the blue color symbolizes fidelity.