In order to get married at all, one has to get engaged. This process may seem uncomplicated, but the people of Fiji came up with quite an original idea. So that the future groom, could ask for the hand of his beloved, at the beginning must offer the father of the bride a whale tooth. 1)
Before they can leave with their new spouses, some grooms in South Korea are subjected to a foot-beating ceremony. His groomsmen or family members take off his shoes and tie his ankles with rope before pounding his feet with a stick or, in some instances, a dried fish. While clearly painful, the ritual is brief and intended to be more entertaining than punishing, and the beating of the groom's feet seems to be a measure of the newlywed husband's strength of character, as the groom is often quizzed and challenged during the act. 2)
It is customary for the father of the bride to spit on his daughter's head and breasts before she leaves with her new husband during Maasai weddings in Kenya. Spitting is a sign of good luck and prosperity in Maasai culture, so it may seem odd or disrespectful to some cultures. 3)
Grooms and brides-to-be in Scotland are subjected to an especially vile practice known as 'blackening.' Blackening is a tradition that includes the bride or groom's friends grabbing the soon-to-be-married and coating them in a mixture of treacle, soot, feathers, and flour before parading them through the streets. The custom is followed to fend off evil spirits. 4)
Women born under the Mangal Dosha are known as ‘Mangliks' in India and are thought to be cursed with bad luck, particularly in marriage, where the curse is said to bring stress and even death. A Kumbh vivah – a ceremony in which the woman marries either a peepal or banana tree before their actual wedding – is performed to lift the curse. 5)