Your wedding party. This is the collection of your closest friends and family that will task with some of the coolest to-dos during your wedding season. They are the group that will stand by you as you say your vows and will party with you as you dance away your first night as a married couple. These individuals hold your bouquet and rings during the ceremony and they plan bachelor and bachelorette parties. The wedding party (and the similar dresses and matching socks) is definitely a staple of the American wedding celebration.

What about around the world? What are the responsibilities of bridesmaids and groomsmen in other corners of the planet? Well, I did a little research and found out that…

In Greece, the best man traditionally shaves the face of the groom.

Bridesmaids in China “test” the groom with a series of challenges to be sure he is worthy of the bride.

In Ethiopia, the bride’s family blocks entry into their home. The groomsmen either have to sing or bribe their way in to take her to the ceremony.

For Finnish bridesmaids, they must blindfold the bride and dance around her in a tradition called “The Dance of the Crown.”

The tradition in France was for there to be a larger processional from the home to the church, where everyone walked in a specific order. The bridesmaids (which were usually children from the family) would follow the bride and her father as they walked.

For weddings Poland, it is not the norm for couples to have bridesmaids and groomsmen in the wedding; the couple are escorted by two witness, which has traditionally been a man from the groom’s side and a woman from the bride’s side.

Brazilian tradition is for the groomsmen to dye their hair blonde to symbolize purity (this is along the lines of the bride’s white dress). 

In Germany and Austria, friends of the bride will “kidnap” her and take her bar to bar; it is often the responsibility for the best man to pay the ransom to get her back.

The things we do for our friends and family on their wedding days is amazing. There is no task too daunting for the wedding parities; there is never too much fun to be infused with the tradition. It goes beyond matching dresses, and into the memories of the moments that come from a wedding day.

Here are a few favorites of those memories from KLP Couples and their wedding parties…