6 Unusual Southern Wedding Traditions – As Shared by Our Customers!

There’s nothing we enjoy more than a good love story. Over the years of talking with customers about the special occasion beautiful jewelry is being purchased for, we started noticing some pretty spectacular stories of weddings held in the south.

Here are some of our favorites:

1. Burying the Bourbon

According to Southern folklore, simply burying a bottle of bourbon at the very location a couple is to be married will ensure that it won’t rain on the wedding day. This meteorological magic trick often comes with some additional rules: It has to be done exactly one month before the wedding, the bottle must be completely full, and it should be buried upside down. Provided all the rules are followed, you should expect a beautiful wedding day.

Image Credit: The Knot

2. Pounding Party

Don’t let the name confuse you. There’s no actual “pounding” going on in this Southern ritual. A “Pounding Party” is a change for friends and family to fill the newlywed’s pantry with a pound of important staples. A pound of flour, pound of sugar, a pound of butter, eggs, and so on. Occasionally churches in the south will throw a “Pounding Party” for a new pastor and his wife when they come to town.

3. The Sorority Sing

A sweet tradition to remind the bride of the bond she has with her sisters. Typically done at the reception, sisters present the bride with the sorority’s flower and sing a song they had all sung together many times. The tradition can be done with a full chorus, a shaky duet, or just a single flower and a hug as the bride makes her getaway. This simple gift is a way for the bride to remember that she will always belong to her sisters, and they will always belong to her.

Photo Credit: Southern Weddings

4. The Handkerchief

Whether decorative or functional, it was once common for proper ladies and gentlemen to carry a handkerchief. The South also has a tradition called The Wedding Handkerchief. A handkerchief (or hanky) that is passed down from mother to daughter through the generations. Farmers believed that a bride’s wedding day tears would bring good luck for rain and healthy crops. Today, handkerchiefs are always at the ready on the wedding day to wipe away tears of happiness and joy.

5. Cake Pull

The old Victorian tradition of “ribbon pulling” has morphed into a cake pull in the south. Historically, a bride would place charms of luck and fortune for her single friends within the cake. Today, bakers will place symbolic sterling silver charms attached to a ribbon at the bottom layer of a cake. The bride’s single friends are given the opportunity to pull a charm for luck. Each charm’s shape has a unique meaning: A hot air balloon represents a life full of travel. A Claddagh symbolizes friendship, love and loyalty. Find a butterfly and that means beauty. A star means a wish is granted, a flower means new love to come, a fleur-de-lis symbolizes prosperity, a kite symbolizes fun, a wishbone means success to come, and the lucky girl who finds a ring will be the next to be married.

Image Credit: Charming Scribe on Etsy

6. Groom’s Cake

The Groom’s Cake is often meant as a gift from the bride to her groom. A groom cake for Southerners is often a playful confection placed alongside the traditional wedding cake. It’s believed that this is a more contemporary version of the Victorian tradition of having three cakes at a wedding: One for the guests, another for the bridesmaids, and a third for the groomsmen. Groom’s Cakes are typically dark chocolate-flavored containing fruit and liqueur. They are often a reflection of the groom’s hobbies and personality and can be a basic small cake, or the infamous armadillo road kill cake from Steel Magnolias. One belief is that if a single woman put a piece of groom’s cake under her pillow, she would dream of her future husband. Whether the dream occurred or not, we can be pretty sure she had to wash her pillow case the next day!

Bonus! Of course there is also the exchanging of unique wedding rings - start exploring a sample of our collection here!