Take two random countries and compare their wedding traditions. A wedding in Scotland can look very different from a wedding in Bangladesh. For example, according to Historic UK, at Scottish weddings, couples literally “tie the knot” when “the bride and groom both provide a strip of cloth, usually their clan tartan, but it can be anything.” In Bengali weddings, we have a custom where on the wedding day, the bride’s side blocks the groom’s side until the groom’s side pays enough money, as a way to say that the groom is willing to pay so much to see his future wife. Sure, Scotland and Bangladesh are pretty far apart, but there are wedding differences even between neighboring countries. America, Canada, and Mexico have different wedding traditions, so imagine the differences between weddings that Rowland Hall students have gone to, especially as the culture continues to diversify each year. So, as a way to measure the diversification of RH, what are some of the weirdest, wildest, or most fun weddings that students have been to?

But first, let’s talk about a problem I had while surveying RH students. Many of us have either not gone to a wedding before, or just don’t remember going to one. Just as freshman Abdallah B. said, “I've never been to weddings because I found them boring. When I try to remember the ones I've been to, I can't.” Junior Max J. also proved this point when he said that he has “never been to a wedding in [his] life.” But that’s just one extreme of the students at RH who think of stereotypical weddings; let’s talk about why many other students love going to weddings: real, fun, sometimes even crazy weddings.

Family reunions, drama, culture clashes, laughing after making a mess—there are many things that can make a wedding weird, wild, or fun. Personally, I think weddings that last late are lots of fun, and many cultures have weddings where they will literally “rage ‘till dawn.” Senior Katerina G. proves this point, as she said, “The weirdest wedding I’ve been to was probably a Greek one because all the guests stay up until the early morning dancing and having a great time.” Weddings can last for hours, but they go by quickly when you are having fun. And what’s more fun than having a wedding? A seaside wedding! Senior Will C. said that his dad’s wedding was in Boca Grande, Florida, and that “the dance floor was a zoo, and I remember teaching some older folks how to do the Macarena.” He also stated that he would never forget that trip, and who would blame him? It must have been a little messy being near sand, but not as messy as having a wedding in a barn, filled with children, surrounded by mud. Sophomore Raphael A. said that, during his German aunt’s wedding, “all of the children were given bags of confetti to throw around,” and that “the kids were allowed to slide down the huge mound of mud.” Messy, but everyone laughed it off and had fun.

With mixed weddings, cultural clashes are a huge part of the wedding, a mixture of both traditions and cultures. Junior Omar A. said that the “most fun wedding I went to had many Syrian and Bosnian traditions that made it really interesting and enjoyable.” But what is also interesting at culture-clash weddings is the dress code, seeing one side wearing dresses and suits, while the other wears sarees and salwar kameezes. Today, many weddings don’t even have a specific dress code, besides dressing formally. To the wedding he described, Raphael wore “a nice button-down shirt, black pants, nice shoes, and a belt,” which works well for basically every wedding, and Katerina’s family “dressed up fancy, suits and dresses, along with many other people” at the Greek wedding, which didn’t have a specific dress code. Official dress codes for weddings have been getting abandoned in many cultures, but what about other wedding traditions? Should we stick with the cultural traditions or modernize them? Katerina points out that “nowadays there is a lot of leeway and many types of weddings that a couple can hold,” and doing whatever makes the couple most comfortable is most important, whether that be a traditional wedding or a unique celebration. Raphael also agrees as he states that weddings are “parties celebrating the unions of two people, more of a formalization than a real union though.”

Even though Rowland Hall is filled with kids who believe that weddings are boring or plain, or kids who just have never gone to a wedding before, there are still many of us who have gone to weddings that were very different from the American norm and have had lots of fun at them, and as Rowland Hall becomes more diverse each year, there’ll be more fun stories like these to share, more cultures to experience, and more ways to learn from each other.