Although I was born and raised in Australia and I’ve worked in the Aussie wedding industry for over 20years, this blog was one of the hardest to write. For even more funny wedding traditions from around the globe, see our 20 Weird and Wonderful Worldly Wedding Traditions post. It is difficult to find good sources of information on Australian wedding traditions, because in our native culture, each Tribe has their own, sometimes very different, traditions and many cannot be generalised. In modern wedding culture, we tend to have adopted many different traditions from all over the world, often based on our own family heritage, so it’s difficult to list as specifically Aussie, as they rarely originate from here. But, from googling and asking lots of people, I think I have found a few unique traditions which I believe are good ones to include here. The Australian Government website, actually gave me a lot of good information too.
1. Smoking ceremony
In native Aboriginal culture it is believed that smoke wards off evil spirits. For this reason, it is customary to use a smudge stick, or burn plants around the couple during the ceremony
2. Stone Ceremony
When Australia was first being settled, many of the new habitants were convicts and as such, had very little money to buy rings and big fancy weddings. So instead of wedding rings, they would ceremoniously throw stones into a river to signify their unity together forever.
3. Acknowledging the land
To bring good luck to a couple, they would thank the grounds and original owners of the land.
4. The Nutbush
Every wedding I have ever been to has always had Tina Turner’s the Nutbush come on. If you want to learn why we follow so many wedding traditions and where they came from, check out our popular traditions guide. Everyone gets up on the dance floor and in flash mob style, dances in synchronicity, to the famous Nutbush dance that everyone just naturally knows. However, I have heard this might not be something other countries do. I have had a couple of international friends tell me they have never heard of this, they have heard the song but not in relation to weddings. So, maybe this could be an Aussie tradition.
5. Pants Down Eagle Rock
This one I was told by a couple of Facebookers as a new Aussie tradition, although neither could give me specifics on when or where it originates from. The idea is, all the guys get on the dance floor, pull their pants around their ankles and sing and dance to the song Eagle Rock, videos suggest they must also be drunk. So far, I have found only Australians have identified with it, so I can only assume it’s Aussie. If I were to guess, I’d say it’s an idea arisen from the many bubbles of beer in the belly to celebrate the happy marriage. We do love our beer.
6. Arranged marriages
Just like in many other cultures, arranged marriages in Aboriginal culture was something that often happened, even before her birth. In this case throughout their life, the young couple would have the obligation to maintain a relationship, and as such the couple were not strangers by the time of the wedding. It was often the boy’s duty to help and support his future mother in law by supplying food, or help when needed. However, just because an arrangement had been made, didn’t guarantee a wedding. If a refusal of marriage occured, although it may spark arguments, the possibility of re-negotiation was always an option. This negotiation may end in a new person to marry, or compensation to the party not opposed to the union.
7. Ceremony
Surprisingly to me, the Aboriginal culture doesn’t place a high priority on specific wedding ceremonies. Instead, they would conduct specific acts, such as sharing a campfire to showcase their union.
8. Numbers
It was customary for males to be in their late teens, to late 20’s when they marry, but for women, it was usually once puberty hit. And it was ok for a husband to have more than one wife at a time, but not ok for a woman to have more than one husband at one time.
9. Native Flowers
In the 80’s it was super common for couples to have native Australian flowers in their bouquets, hair or decorations. The trend faded in the 90’s but made a comeback in the 2000’s and has seemed to have stayed. The benefit of using Aussie natives is a lot of them preserve really well without much effort. Many fresh cut natives with the right care can last up to 2 weeks in a vase, and many self-dry or already have a paper feel to them, which means you can have them decorating your house for years after.
10. Unity Stones
Despite working in the Australian wedding world for over 20years, this is a tradition I have not yet come across. So, I can’t verify this one myself. But I have been informed of it through a wedding professional, and also during my online researching. It seems to be a new tradition, which is possibly why I struggled to find information. It involves all the guests collecting a stone each before the ceremony. After the ceremony they place their stones in a bowl or vase which the couple take with them to decorate their house and remind them of all the love and support they have from each guest. It is said to be a derivative of the Unity Candle ceremony.
I’m sure there are far more Aussie traditions, so if you know of any I have missed, I would love to hear about them.
