Wedding Tradition: Brazil
Just read a cool article in Wedding Planner Magazine by Tonia Adleta about her trip to the capital city of Brasilia to observe a wedding. One thing in particular caught my eye.
Brazilian Brides want to be late to their own ceremony. They want to be late. So they can make a “grand entrance”. The churches often charge heavy fines for a bride arriving late to her own ceremony. The brides don’t care. Someone pays the late fee. The bride of the ceremony Tonia observed arrived an hour after the scheduled ceremony time.
That would annoy me. Or, maybe not. If it’s tradition and everyone knows, okay.
Time Wars
Many couples with cultural heritage outside of America have explained that their guests will be tardy to the ceremony because they are on (fill in the country here) time. Always late. Very, very relaxed about that sort of thing.
There is a trend in Southern California about the invitation time and the ceremony time. Many wedding professionals are advising the bride to schedule the ceremony 30 minutes after the invitation time to make sure all of the guests have arrived. I disagree.
Imagine the people who take the invitation time seriously and they rush like crazy, screaming at their companions, “Hurry Up! We can’t be late! They will hate us!”. Drive like maniacs.
Then they arrive, rush to their seats, wonder why not many people are there, and are told the ceremony is actually going to begin in another half hour. Always was. How would you feel at that moment. Pissed off? Me, too.
So the bride, who wants everyone to be happy at her wedding, begins the day with some angry guests. Not cool.
Starting 10-15 minutes late is acceptable. But if there is someone on the guest list so important that you can’t begin the ceremony without them and they are chronically late, you need to take preventive action. Ask them to arrive extra early to help you with….. make something up.
All Blessings,
Clint
Thanks so much for reading! Now you’re in the know about perfect timing for your wedding day.
