Costa Ricans are warm people who love celebration; this mainly characterizes the Costa Rica wedding tradition. When planning a wedding in Costa Rica, it is may be best to follow with the Costa Rica wedding tradition to make the celebration more authentic and exceptional. However, general wedding traditions have shifted nowadays, to include several western world elements, especially when more foreign tourists are choosing Costa Rica as their wedding and honeymoon destination.
One Costa Rica wedding tradition is for the bride to wear a long, black silk dress as her wedding gown. In other wedding traditions, this may seem inappropriate seeing that wearing a black dress typically signify death and mourning. But in most traditional Costa Rican wedding, the bride wears a black gown, in striking contrast to the immaculately white wedding gowns commonly worn by modern brides today.
It is also customary also for the groom to wear a shirt that is painstakingly hand-embroidered by his future wife. This will mean that the bride already shows her devotion and concern for her future husband, even before the marriage ceremony has taken place. These days, on the other hand, most brides find it hard to embroider wedding shirts by themselves so other alternatives like buying ready-to-wear machine embroidered shirts are normally accepted.
During the wedding ceremony, there is also the traditional exchange of thirteen cold coins to be passed from the groom to his bride. This act of offering is done to symbolize the groom’s role in his future family as a provider. The passing of gold coins signifies the groom’s willingness to be a responsible head of family, and that he will fulfill his role of taking care of his wife through love and devotion. In most Catholic Church weddings, these thirteen coins also have a religious connotation. The thirteen coins symbolize Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles. The major religion in this country is still Roman Catholicism, so most of the people still adhere to religious beliefs and practices.
After the wedding ceremony, a celebratory party usually begins. Another Costa Rican wedding tradition is the accompaniment of lively Spanish music during the wedding day bash. Costa Ricans love dancing to live music, partying until well into the night. It is important for a Costa Rican wedding to be fun and exciting, because almost all of the family members are in attendance. Costa Ricans hold tight family ties, and no celebration is usually ever complete without the entire presence of their beloved family and relatives.
Celebrating a wedding in Costa Rica is surely something that will be remembered forever. There is nothing more enchanting than exchanging vows against a setting of peacefully beautiful beaches, glorious sunsets, and warm, tropical weather. More than these, it is the love and laughter of dear friends and family that complete any wedding. With a beautiful place as a wedding venue, and the company of an equally remarkable family, there is nothing more that any couple can wish for. Certainly, getting married in a country that is also ideal for a honeymoon getaway is just simply perfect.