According to tradition, the luckiest day for marriage is Sunday. Rain on the wedding day is also considered lucky.

To begin with, the wedding celebration is an affair that begins with a mass in the morning but the dancing and feasting afterward can easily last into the wee hours of the next day.

At the wedding, the last person to arrive at the wedding mass is the bride. The number of minutes she is late will have a special meaning to the groom.

According to folklore, the groom should carry a piece of iron in his pocket (tocca ferro) to ward off the evil eye (mal’occhio) because he doesn’t want to provoke supernatural envy due to his happiness. The bride should wear a bridal veil so she will be concealed from malignant spirits. However, it’s considered good luck to tear the veil.

A ribbon is sometimes tied across the front of the church door to signify the tying together of two lives.

Candy-covered almonds (confetti) that are tied in mesh bags (bomboniere) are tossed at the couple after the ceremony. This is based on a tradition to prevent childlessness. It is also supposed to symbolize the sweet and bitter of married life. The number of confetti in each bag is considered important. It should be an odd number, preferably 5 or 7, since each is a good luck number. At one time, Italians showered the newly married couple with barley (to bring male children) and wheat (to bring girls).

The front of the bridal car is decorated with flowers to signify happy travels through life for the bride and groom. At some weddings, a pair of white doves is released into the air to symbolize the love and happiness of the couple.

As people arrive at the reception, the best man who has a tray of liquor greets them. The women are served sweet liquors and the men are served strong drinks so they can toast the bride and groom. A common toast would be “Per cent’anni” which means, “For a hundred years.”

All the men at the reception kiss the bride for good luck – and to make the groom jealous, of course!

Another custom is buste. The bride carries a satin bag (la borsa). In it guests place envelopes containing money to help toward the expenses of the wedding. At some weddings, it is given to the bride’s grandmother (nonna) or mother to guard but at other weddings, the bride continues to carry it. If this is the case, all the men who dance with her put money into it. At some weddings (mainly in Northern Italy), the best man cuts the groom’s tie into many pieces. They are put onto a tray and sold to guests. (Usually, the groom would have a cheap tie with him he brought along for this purpose!) The money raised was given to the couple to help pay for the band.

Not surprisingly, Italian weddings are great places for food. It’s the focal point of the festivities for the families and friends of both bride and groom who are celebrating the new relationship. The multi-course dinner often has fourteen courses (or maybe even more!). Symbolic good luck foods are fried twists of dough, covered with powdered sugar called “wanda” (bow ties) and Italian wedding candy.

After dinner, everyone is served slices of wedding cake with cups of coffee, espresso or other beverages. And the band plays mazzurcas and tarantellas for dancing.

As in many other countries, the friends of the groom usually sneak away during the reception to play tricks on the wedding couple. These may include walling-in the door of the couple’s new home or even putting itching powder in the bed.

At the end of the wedding day, the couple may shatter a vase or glass into many pieces to represent the number of years they will be happily married to each other. This custom is from the Southern regions of Italy.

Sheila Stone is the Relationships editor for Simply Family