A Wonderful Tradition

I had never been to a German wedding before, so this was a very new experience for me. The traditions are quite different from ours here in North America. There are so many that I've journaled about in my travel book, but I felt I had to share one in particular, along with a few photos.

On the eve before the wedding the neighbors get together at someones home and start to make decorations for a "Tur Kranz". Translated this means door wreath.Now this no ordinary wreath, no sir, when they mean door wreath, they really mean it! The neighbours then make their way to the home of the bride & groom. The bride & groom are not part of this event at this stage.The neighbours then painstakingly decorate the front door of the house. It's amazing how beautiful it is when it's all finished.Then the second part of the tradition begins. Once the door is fully decorated the neighbours ring the bell and the bride and groom come to the door.

The neighbours then begin to smash plates and dishes on the path. This is part of the Polterabend. The broken pieces of the dishes are thought to bring gook luck to the bride.
The bride and groom give a small speech and then all the neighbours are given a shot of "corn" (pure alcohol) served by the bride and groom. Prost!!
Everyone is then invited into the home for an informal party. (more food and beer!) It was so beautiful that we had a garden party!
At the end of the evening the bride and groom head back out the door and start to clean up the broken dishes. It's really a lot of fun and quite an amazing tradition!