Seven Italian traditions to easily incorporate into your wedding

In this Article

Share

Shots of limoncello and delicious Italian cuisine are the obvious ways to embrace the beautiful Italian culture, but what are some lesser-known ways to incorporate Italian traditions into your wedding? Here are seven ideas for subtle ways to invoke la dolce vita.

Green for Good Luck

Historically, brides in Italy wore green the night before the wedding because it’s considered good luck and good fortune. You could incorporate green into your welcome party or rehearsal dinner outfit – or even wear green pyjamas! I’d planned to wear a blue and green dress for my welcome party, to combine the UK’s “something blue” tradition with the Italian green. Sadly, I didn’t love the dress when I tried it on but I still wore a dress that had flashes of green in a nod to this tradition.

La Serenata

Would I have been dropping some serious hints about this one if I’d known about it before my Italian wedding? Absolutely. Le Serenata is an Italian pre-wedding tradition where the groom, along with the bride’s friends and family, organise a singer or musician to serenade the bride beneath her window the night before the wedding. It’s usually done as a surprise for the bride and would be so fun and romantic! Grooms, take note.

Confetti Rice

In Ancient Rome, people threw rice at newlyweds to wish them wealth and prosperity in their marriage, and it’s a tradition that continues today. There’s even different symbolism tied to different types of rice: Carnaroli rice symbolises sharing and compromise, Basmati rice is for fertility and passion, Arborio rice for eternal life, and Roma rice for prosperity. Rice throwing would be a gorgeous (and cost effective!) way to incorporate an Italian tradition.

Le Millefoglie

We thought we were breaking tradition by not having a wedding cake but actually, that’s the Italian way! Wedding cakes typically weren’t a thing in Italy, until more and more foreign couples started getting married abroad. So, they introduced Le Millefoglie – a traditional Italian wedding cake. It’s a flat, circular cake made from puff pastry layered with cream and strawberries and, like all Italian cuisine, it’s delicious. Having millefoglie for your cake cutting is a great way to incorporate an Italian tradition, and something most venues and caterers offer.

Confettata

Traditionally, a confettata (a table laden with sugared almonds and sweets) was set up at Italian weddings towards the end of the night for guests to enjoy. The modern version of this is to include a dessert buffet with a selection of local pastries, cakes, tiramisu and chocolates. This is something we did at our wedding in place of serving desserts at the table – it meant we could get to the dancing faster and guests could enjoy sweet treats throughout the night.

La Tarantella Dance

The Tarantella is an Italian folk dance that’s traditionally performed at weddings in Italy. Guests usually dance energetically in a circle to upbeat music. It’s super fun, and a great way to get everyone involved, break the ice and get people in the party mood – you’ll probably get amazing photos out of it too! Lots of foreign couples hire local bands to perform the music and it goes down a storm – authentic, Italian party vibes.

Get Smashed

No, not like that! An old Italian tradition at the end of the night is for the bride and groom to gather their friends and family and smash glasses. The number of pieces was supposed to signify the number of years that the couple would live happily ever after. It goes without saying that this one has safety considerations and you’d need to check with your venue, but lots of couples have found ways to do it in a low risk manner, like covering the glass with tea towels first.

What are the ways you’re planning to incorporate Italian traditions into your wedding? Tell us at ciao@italyeverafter.com

Recommended Planning Tools

You don’t want to be without these planning tools if you’re getting married in Italy. From trackers to templates, and detailed step-by-step guides… these are the resources that will help you level up your Italian wedding.

Next Articles