#ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage – traditions! It’s hard to avoid discussing the most popular wedding and divorce this Wedding Wednesday, but we wanted to focus on something a little more inspiring than a 72-day sham of a marriage: the roots of weddings. Some wedding traditions have been going on for thousands of years and are rich in history, which is why they are included during modern ceremonies. Here in America we may have our own wedding traditions that many couples choose to embrace, such as the tossing of the bouquet and throwing rice as the newlyweds leave. But there are many unique traditions around the world for different religions and cultures, and all quite fascinating too! Let’s take a little tour…

Mehndi

This past weekend I attended a friend’s wedding, which was a traditional Muslim wedding. My friend’s hands and feet were decorated in elaborate henna patterns called mehndi before her wedding. It can take several hours so brides will host a mehndi party with close guests. During the wedding ceremony she’ll also be covered ornately in jewels. Very glamorous!

Jumping the Broom

Jumping the broom is done as an act of remembrance and to honor the ancestors of the past. It is often compared to the Jewish wedding ritual of crushing a glass for the destruction of the temple. A broom itself represents cleanliness, the hearth, and family, and represents a leap of faith into marriage. The couple concludes their ceremony with a jump over the broom, taking a leap of faith into their marriage and new lives as husband and wife!

Breaking Glass

During a traditional Jewish wedding, after the bride and groom drinks from the second cup, the groom breaks the glass with his right foot. This tradition may hold different meanings, such as a symbol of the breaking of our hearts in remembrance of the Holy Temple or our that joy is must always be tempered. It also concludes the ceremony so all the guests shout “Mazel Tov!”

Red Wedding Dress

In China, red is a strong and lucky color. Brides will wear the traditional qipao or cheongsam, an embroidered, slim-fitting frock that’s usually made of silk. The bride might swap into a white ball gown that wouldn’t look out of place at an American wedding as a nod to the popularity of Western trends.

Baby Bridesmaids

Royal Weddings in the UK invite baby bridesmaids down the aisle rather than friends their own age. Kate Middleton had some of the youngest bridesmaids seen in a royal wedding – they were just 3 years old!

Pulling of the Cake

In Peru, the single female will take part in the pulling of the cake before it gets cut. Charms are attached to cintas de torta (cake ribbons), each woman grabs a ribbon and pulls. The woman who picks the ribbon with the ring is said to be next in line for marriage.

Animal Sacrifice

Traditional Zulu weddings, originating from Zululand in South Africa, has the groom’s family slaughter a cow to welcome the bride. The bride places money inside the stomach of the cow while the wedding guests watch. This symbolizes that she is now part of the family.

Zaffe

The zaffe is a modern wedding Lebanese tradition, where a group of dancers performs in anticipation of the couple’s entry and help make it over-the-top. This can either be a traditional Lebanese zaffe of dabke or belly-dancing, or it can be something with a twist to reflect the couple.

Ransom of the Bride

Don’t be alarmed by the title! Russian grooms have to work for their brides. Before their wedding, the groom will arrive but before he can see her friends and family will refuse him until he pays up.  Grooms must perform silly dances, answer riddles, and perform goofy tests like diapering a baby doll or drinking an awful concoction. Once the groom impresses friends and family with this bridal ransom, or vykup nevesty, he’s allowed to see his bride-to-be.

Tell us: What cool, unique wedding traditions did you follow at your wedding?

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Be sure to start the summer off right with an exciting health and wellness travel experience from Spa Week. From now until July 31, you can enter to win the Summer Vacay Giveaway to the breathtaking Travaasa Austin Resort.

One lucky winner will receive a Four Night Stay for two at the stunning Travaasa Austin resort including the opportunity to Spa or Golf EVERY DAY! That’s one spa treatment or one round of golf PER PERSON, PER DAY!

The winner will also receive $175 in SpaWeek Gift Cards to use at his or her choice at over 3,400 spas Nationwide.

Also included are all meals and non-alcoholic drinks AND all of the amazing activities Travaasa Austin is famous for:

Spa and Wellness

Breath work, meditation and Chi movement in addition to unique spa treatments

Adventure

Prickly Pear Challenge Course, zip-lining, climbing wall, equine experiences, archery and hiking

Fitness

Yoga, mechanical bull workout, Barre, Zumba and Pilates

Culinary

Regional cuisine cooking classes and nutritional classes

Culture

Texas two-step, ecology, photography and more!

Visit Spa Week’s Summer Vacay Giveaway page to enter.

Don’t miss out on this amazing adventure!

Little luxuries are all around us if you know where to look – be it a bright red lipstick that makes you feel like a movie star on a Monday morning, a mini-facial that makes you glow inside and out, or a book that takes you to the other side of the world. These tiny everyday gems are anxiously waiting to be discovered by you and wrapped with a bow, and each chapter of the LLGG seeks to deliver a new morsel of inspiration to you and your holiday season. Fancy shmancy is out; it’s those legendary “small packages” that hold the key to a perfect season of giving.

What a year this has been! Chapter nine is dedicated to a few of the things that helped shape the culture of 2009.

1. Tweet Tweet, available at Twitter.com – $0

Can you just imagine how many millions of holiday wishes will be spread on Twitter this year? A Tweet might not cut it for dad or a close friend, but for the rest of your Twitterati, why not tweet individual special link that embodies your holiday wish for them?

2. Graffiti Love Hearts Flip Mini HD Camcorder by David Arquette & Courteney Cox, available at TheFlip.com – starting at $149.99

Flip Cams have revolutionized blogging and social media, and this one just happens to be the coolest one out there. A perfect gift for the internet star-to-be! (Not in that way.)

3. Ernie Kids Long-Sleeved Tee by by Morfs Brand, available at Barney’s – $75

Between Sesame Street’s huge 40th anniversary this year and Michelle Obama making her debut among the puppets, Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Oscar and the gang have made a huge comeback. This shirt’s for kids, but a Sesame Street gift this year is appropriate for recipients of all ages.

4. iPod Nano that shoots video, compare all at apple.com – starting at $149

Remember when the Nano first came out and nobody could believe how tiny it was? We’re pretty much over it now… just in time for Apple to throw in camcorder capabilities. Another Apple gift idea: get them an App for their iPhone or iTouch.

5. Anything from Barneys because their holiday campaign was so brilliantly 2009

Last year Barneys’ holiday theme was Peace + Love, which was so fitting with the downturned economy for a company that sells ridiculously expensive gifts to focus on the spirit behind the presents and keeping it joyous. Now– economy shmishonomy. We’re sick of hearing about it, and Barney’s outdid themselves perfectly with their Witty holiday theme. Shop the whole holiday book– hundreds of little luxuries on the verge on big luxuries, and you’ll feel wittier just turning the pages.

6. Team Edward/Team Jacob necklaces, New Moon for BP, available at Nordstrom.com – $24

The Yankees may have made their mark as World Series Champions, but there are two other wildly fanatical teams that have taken 2009 by storm. The Twilight/New Moon saga has spawned a world where diamond necklaces might not stand a chance to symbols of love like these.

7. Give The Beatles.  Beatles Rockband, explore their website. The other items, Beatles 1 and the Apple a Day onesie, available at Beatles online superstore, TheFest.com – $18.50, $20 respectively.

Just yesterday, it was announced that the Beatles 1,  the Beatles hits compilation released in 2000, has sold 11.5 million copies making it the #1 album of the DECADE.  Imagine that– a band that’s been broken up for 40 years is still #1.  Beatles Rockband and all remastered album releases swept the world on 09.09.09 and was embraced by an entirely new generation of Beatles fans; even babies love the fab four. There is just no stopping them!

Something else that’s also more 2009 than ever before: prevention. The spa is an invaluable source of wellness that has been acknowledged more than ever. Treat someone to a $100 SPA WEEK® Gift Card, on sale for just $80 this holiday season. They’re redeemable nationwide for massages, acupuncture, haircuts, pedicures, med spa treatments and more. The card is flexible and never expires, and will make quite the present to enjoy the present… and the future.

Welcome to the Zit List, where we tell you exactly what to think about events, people, and things that happened this week.

Tiger Woods: Golfer? I Hardly Know ‘Er!
After last week’s bizarre one-man accident, new information leaking out all but confirms Woods and his wife were arguing about his infidelity the night he took his ride for a little commune with a nearby tree. And his dogging around doesn’t look like it was limited to just one or two affairs. Tsk, tsk, Tiger. Wasn’t making millions by swinging a stick enough for you?
Rating: 4 zits

Marilyn Monroe, pothead?
A newly released silent film shows the bombshell smoking marijuana in the late 1950s. By all accounts, she looks relaxed and happy and, given the tumult of so many other times in her life, it’s hard to begrudge her chasing a little happiness, all lawbreaking aside.
Rating: 1 zit

Monkeying Around
Yale undergrads, who apparently haven’t seen the fine Dustin Hoffman vehicle Outbreak, were fooled by an e-mail alleging monkeys diseased with a rare (and fake!) hemorrhagic fever had broken loose from a research lab and were running around campus. As pranks go, this is a fine one!
Rating: 0 zits, well played

For the Person Who Has Everything
It’s the holidays, so I suppose it’s only natural that something like this would emerge…but this week we were graced with a doozy of a gift. If you don’t have a fireplace, and you want a fireplace, and you have a TV, but you never want to watch the TV while the fireplace is going or have the fireplace going while you watch TV…uh, here you go. It’s a DVD of a fireplace. To make your TV a fireplace.  Be sure to get up very close to it to catch the wisps of warmth emanating from the cathode ray tubes. Just like the real thing!
Rating: 3 zits

From Surno's "The Smallest Canvas."

New York City artist Molly Surno has completed a visually fascinating, emotionally understated photography installation based around a most unusual subject: nail polish.

In Surno’s “The Smallest Canvas”, close-up photographs of dramatic nail art alternate with behind-the-scenes photos of nail salons in Surno’s home borough of Brooklyn.  Her topic is small in scope, but the photographs of ordinary people getting manicures and pedicures are oddly touching.

The installation showed at Capricious Space here in NYC earlier this month. In service of her theme of beauty rituals as a cultural touchstone, nail artists were on hand at the opening on November 5th to help those inspired by Surno’s work acquire a little nail art of their own.

You can view the series at Surno’s website.