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Norwegian Wedding

Christmas Traditions Around the World – With a Twist

Christmas season is something that is enjoyed in almost all parts of the world and each country has their own set of traditions; some are very similar while others are unique. Then there are some that are downright strange.

Aside from the country and culture specific traditions, there is also the set of family or personal traditions. A really different Christmas tradition is a Very Old Norwegian one. It was an old belief that on the eve of Christmas witches and bad spirits would come about the towns looking for brooms on which to ride. So all the villagers would hide their brooms where they believed they couldn’t be found. Today’s modern age also sees vestiges of this custom. The men of the house gallantly go outdoors to fire off a shotgun; threatening and scaring off the witches.

In the Czech Republic, young ladies who dream of marriage have a very unusual Christmas tradition. On Christmas Eve, these hoping to be brides, will stand with their back to the house. Next they will throw one of their shoes over their shoulder towards the door. Now if the shoe lands with the heels towards the door, then unfortunately she will remain unmarried for another year. On the other hand if the toe of the shoe points towards the door, she is believed to marry before the next Christmas. She will begin making her wedding preparations and move out of her parent’s house!

If you feel that the shoe tossing tradition is interesting, you will find the food tossing tradition quite intriguing. Now if you like a clean home especially at this festive time of year then you wouldn’t want to adopt this tradition. All members of the family sit down for the Christmas Eve dinner. The head of the family takes a good sized spoonful of a special traditional Christmas Dish Made from bread poppy seed filling and water. This is called Loksa. Then, he will throw this hefty spoonful of Loksa up to the ceiling while everyone watches to see how much of this gooey mixture has stuck to the ceiling. Now this is very important because the more that is stuck on the ceiling the better the crops will be. This is a tradition that is followed throughout Slovakia and the Ukraine. It provides great family amusement except possibly for the women who have to clean up the mess.

In many countries the people attend mass either Christmas eve or Christmas day. This is also true in Caracas Venezuela with one exception; everybody roller skates to the mass. It is such a big traditional event that all the roads within the city are closed to car traffic. It’s a great alternative to ice skating because the climate is just too warm for snow or ice.

What holiday traditions do you and your family enjoy? Why not share them at Boomer Yearbook, and who knows, maybe find a new and exciting tradition to try with their family and friends. Best wishes for a Happy Holiday Season to all.

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Civil wedding. What should we do first?

Hey, I am wondering something about civil wedding. I am living in Norway with my family in 5 years but i am not yet a Norwegian citizen. My boyfriend is living in New Jersey in 3 years now. We have been together in 7 years since we were in Philippines. We are planning to get married this June or first week of July. What do we need in our civil wedding (just the 2 of us. No family member)? This is kinda secret marriage. Do we need witnesses? How does the civil wedding goes? What kind of dress I will wear? What should we do first? What kind of papers do we need? Does it costs something? I am pretty sure that this is what we want. We are both 21 years old. I hope I get good suggestions. Thank you so much!!

You can just go to City Hall in any county in New Jersey OR go over the bridge and go to one of the Borough Hall offices in New York. Bring your passports and picture ID, proving your birthday/birthplace, age, address. I’ve put a post below with the marriage regulations state x state, and a checklist on how to elope in New York – it’s not much different in NJ – it’s about 28 in NJ, $35 in NY, and a wedding at City Hall in NY will be an additional $25 for the ceremony. Its a 24hour waiting period in NY, 72 hours in NJ.

You may also have to pay for an “apostille”, which is a certified international license, check with your consulates to see if you need this document. Otherwise, your marriage license will come in the mail in a couple of weeks.

You will need at least one witness for the ceremony, so perhaps a friend or a photographer would be your witness. If you are married at City Hall, just wear whatever you want – people are married in big white wedding dresses, and in jeans. You can also have a nice party later after you tell your families, so if you want, you can save your rings until a second ceremony (a wedding ‘blessing’) with your families. You do not have to exchange rings to be married, but of course you can if you want.

A Norwegian Wedding