Swedish Wedding Traditions

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Swedish Wedding Traditions

It is not only Royals who choose to get married this particular weekend, The Pentecost weekend, or Pingsthelgen, as it is called in Swedish, is one of the most popular weekends to get married in Sweden. It is also considered to be the most beautiful time of year, when everything is in full bloom, and that could be the reason for this tradition.

To get married and have a church wedding has not always been the norm though. Many choose to be "sambo", which means you are a couple living together, but you are not married. There is also another tradition that's gaining popularity and that is to be "särbo". This is usually more common with the older generation, you are a couple but you do not share the same home . This is usually for practical reasons. You already have a comfortable life in your own home and don't want to complicate things by moving in together. You also like living by yourself and where you live.

Swedish wedding traditions differ from other countries in many ways. The most noticeable would be that the bride and groom enters the church together. This is a more modern approach as the Swedes are considered to be more equal and no bride is going to be "given away".

During the wedding ceremony itself it is more common that they follow the script that the priest reads, the bride and groom do not generally write their own vows which many American couples do.

Wedding bands and engagement rings. These are done the opposite way compared to England and The US. When a couple gets engaged, both will wear a "band"and it is at the wedding ceremony that the diamond ring slipps on, or in some cases, another wedding band.

Bridesmaids and groomsmen are generally fewer as well. Sometimes the couple might already have children together, and if that's the case the child/children will be included too.

The reception tends to be smaller and there's more often a sit down 3 course dinner reception. Forget seeing off the bride and groom after dinner as they are usually the last ones to leave. The festivities can last until the very early hours of the morning with "nattamat", a late night meal, being served around midnight.

And finally to the wedding cake. I must say they are soo much better in Sweden. Usually not as sweet and much lighter than the american versions. The cake can be a white or chocolate or an almond cake filled with layers of raspberry, lemon or chocolate mousse, vanilla custard, preserve or fresh berries and cream. The decorations are many times made of marzipan rather than fondant which is less sweet and tastes good. The cake below is filled with passionfruit curd, white chocolate mousse and the cake layers are made with almond paste. The cake is then draped with a thin layer of white marzipan and topped with fresh flowers for decoration.