A German Wedding Feast

  A traditional German wedding reception began when the bride and groom left the church in a cart or carriage. Their guests followed behind all the way to their new home, where the party took place.  

Over the Threshhold

The groom, carrying his bride, passed over the threshold first. Behind him, a friend tossed a beer stein over the roof, ensuring the grooms sobriety through the night. The couple shared a bite of bread, and then the wife assumed her wifely role by adding salt to the wedding soup, traditionally a beef, dumpling, and vegetable stew. The guests offered a gift in exchange for entrance to the party. After servers placed the first course on the tables, the inviter offered a toast to the bride and groom. Upon completing his speech, he drank his drink in one gulp and then tossed the glass behind him. The tinkling of shattered glass ensured good luck for the marriage. Throughout the dinner, the guests presented their gifts to the bride in groom in exchange for a drink from the bride. At some point mid-meal, the bride and groom stood. Taking a coin out of her shoe, the bride offered it to the musicians. The couple took to the dance floor for their first waltz as man and wife. Others joined in the dancing, until hunger overtook them again. Upon returning to their seats for another course of food, the cook emerged holding her bandaged hand. Once the groom paid her "for medicine," the German wedding feast resumed.  

German Wedding Frivolities

Throughout the night, games ensued. One such game was the Bridal Cup, a hinged cup in the shape of a maiden who holds a cup over her head. At the hinge, the cup she holds and the skirt she wears offer drinking vessels for bride and groom. The groom drank champagne from the skirt, while the bride drank from the cup. Whoever finished first would "rule the nest." Friends of the groom might also spirit the bride away to a series of nearby pubs. In order to return her to the party, the groom searched the pubs, paying the bar tabs along the way. As midnight approached, one of the groomsmen crawled under the head table to slip the garters off each of the bridesmaid's legs. After cutting them into pieces, he distributed them to each man in attendance. The men wore them in their buttonholes. At midnight, the maidens helped the bride remove her bridal crown and replace it with a bonnet. The bride and groom cut the wedding cake, and then they blindfolded the bride. Her bridesmaids danced around her until she managed to catch one.  

After Midnight

The one she caught then danced with a selection of the groom's male relatives around three lit candles set upon the floor. She would be the next maiden to marry, and if the candles remained lit throughout the dancing she expected a smooth courtship and marriage. Eventually, the partygoers escorted the bride and groom to the bridal chamber. Here, the couple expected more fun and games. First of all, coal and pieces of bread laid scattered about, a good omen of warmth and abundance. Balloons filled the room. Sometimes even the bed was taken apart, a final challenge for the couple to work as a team to rebuild their marriage bed. The next morning, the ringing of many hidden alarm clocks might awaken them. If the went outside, the couple must search for their car which their friends lifted in the night and carried to a secret location. All of this was done in good fun, and the bride and groom relished the antics of their good friends.