Everywhere around the world you see many different cultures. Each culture, for the most part, has its own traditions. African Americans, after being ripped from their homeland, were forced into slavery and had to create traditions and rituals for holidays and special occasions because their former traditions were forbidden when brought into slavery. It is assumed that many of the now African American traditions were brought on by Celtic influences.

When it comes to weddings couples now days want to have unique ceremonies. In some cases, unique means tracing back your heritage and using old cultural traditions. For African American weddings, the traditions can include:

Pouring of Libations for African Americans; this is an important part of a wedding ceremony. This is done to show respect for ancestors and elders and the wisdom they possess. This tradition helps call forth the ancestors to join in on the celebration. Cowry shells in the past were used as currency in Africa. These egg-shaped shells are sometimes used in African American wedding ceremonies to decorate the bottom of the bride’s gown and in church decorations. They are believed to bring good luck and good fortune.

The sweeping of the courtyard ritual shows the willingness for the families to blend. Customarily, the bride would sweep the courtyard with the groom’s family to show her enthusiasm to help them and the broom was then placed on the ground and used for the jumping the broom ritual. Another popular way for the families to show eagerness to merge is for them to stand in lines on opposite sides of the reception area and trade places with the person standing on the other side of the area from them.

A more uncommon tradition, which is a ritual done by the Woo people, is that the mother of the bride carved pot lids. The carvings are of images that illustrate proverbs about marriage. If the wife is in some way unhappy, she may use one of the lids that expresses her complaint correctly to cover her husband’s food as it is served to him. She may also choose to do this publicly if her husband has invited friends for dinner. This tradition can be creatively refashioned to fit the needs of a modern day African American bride. The tasting of the four elements, alternatively called bitter herb tasting or tasting of the four temperaments, is done to sensationalize the promise to love “for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.” The bride and groom taste four different elements, hot; cayenne pepper, sour; lemon, bitter; vinegar and sweet; honey. These four elements represent all the ups and downs of marriage. After the bride and groom taste the four elements, they demonstrate the belief that not only are they marrying each other but they are also marrying each other’s families. The couple feed the immediate family members unleavened bread from a basket. The jumping the broom tradition dates back as far as the 18th century. In myth, it was said to ward off evil spirits. In African American weddings, after the vows were said and bride and groom were pronounced husband and wife, the couple would jump over a broom that had been placed on the ground as a symbol of jumping into their new life together. It also represents the making of a home together. After the African Americans were free to have English weddings with rings, this tradition was no longer practiced religiously and now is only used as a personal choice of the bride and groom. Instead of the broom jumping ceremony, the couple may chose to have a grass cord tied around their wrist and in result, tying them together.

The first wedding between two people is something that will be cherished and remembered for the rest of their lives. They say this day is supposed to be for the bride, but now days it can be for both the bride and groom. The bride and groom plan most weddings but sometimes they need a little help. These are just a few suggestions for traditional and untraditional African American weddings.

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