Love and Marriage Customs in Partschins

Getting married is one of the most important things that can happen in the lives of two individuals. Weddings are associated with many ancient traditions and customs that are still very popular today.
To the present day South Tyrol has its share of popular wedding customs too, providing special, romantic and sometimes even bizarre moments. Why in days gone by weddings were never held on Sundays, or why on her wedding day a bride might be woken up extremely early - the stories behind these and other traditional South Tyrolean marriage customs can be found here!

"He loves me, he loves me not"....One after the other petals are plucked off. The last petal decides the anser. For centuries, young girls have consultet the daisy oracle. They pluck off the white petals one by one until the last one falls and predicts how the beloved's affections will be.
Another way of consulting the oracle  is the following saying: "He loves me - with all his heart - with pain - beyond measure - cannot let go of me - a little - not at all."

In South Tyrol, the girls also pluck off the inner, yellow flower head of the daisy. They place the blossoms in their open palm and throw them into the air. The small blossoms then have to land on the back of their hand. Depending on how many remain on the back of the hand, the oracle predicts how many children the girl will have with her beloved, or how many years they will be married.
This game originated in France and is called Euffeuiller la Marguerite!

When is the best day to get married?
Until the middle of the 20th century, people would chiefly choose to get married during the winter months and the time around Shrove Tuesday, mainly on a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. During Lent and Advent it was not possible to get married at all. Clergymen too were reluctant to allow weddings on Sundays. This is because the “unholy” celebrating and dancing until midnight was incompatible with a Sunday.
For a church wedding, in days gone by couples would go to the “Widn” (the vicarage) for a “Brautexamen” (ecclesiastical examination); today they attend a marriage preparation course beforehand. The wedding takes place in the home church of the bride. On the three Sundays preceding the wedding, the names of the bride and groom are published in the community. From this time forward they are considered to be officially betrothed.

From the week when notice is given in the community of the bridal couple’s intention to marry, in Partschins it is “Kotzenmusig” (cat music) time. One evening approximately two weeks before the wedding, friends stand outside the home of the happy couple with “instruments” such as pans, pots and lids and make as much noise as they possibly can. The bridal couple rewards the “talented musicians” with a drink.
The night before the wedding is when the custom of “Brautweck’n”, or waking the bride has its turn. Usually sometime between four and five in the morning, the bride (and in some places the groom too) is raised from bed by a tremendous racket. Afterwards there is a toast to the happy couple and pre-wedding celebration with food and drink. In the past, people believed that the bridal couple was accompanied by evil spirits before the wedding. Since the spirits are a bit less on the ball in the night, the bride is awakened before sunrise. Noise is supposed to release the bride from the spirits so that she can walk to the altar in freedom.

Depending on the happy couple’s preference, the wedding can be held either in traditional South Tyrolean costume (Dirndl or Diandl) or in white, as a white wedding dress symbolises purity. However the groom may not see the dress before the wedding, as that is supposed to bring bad luck. Before a church wedding, the father of the bride gives his daughter his blessing or “Brautsegn” and accompanies her to the altar.

On the day of the wedding the best man takes the bride to the wedding and accompanies her into the church. The bridegroom too is supposed not to sit behind the wheel on his wedding day, so as to avoid driving himself to his own misfortune.
After the wedding, children greet the newly married couple in front of the church with a poem. Then all of the wedding guests and the bridal couple head to the hotel or restaurant where the wedding reception is being held. On the way there, mostly friends and colleagues of the couple hold up the procession with a series of “barriers”. Humorous scenes or poems are performed depicting the past bad habits of the happy couple. It is not uncommon for there to be small “tests” that the married couple have to pass together. Only then can the wedding procession proceed.

Another very popular custom in South Tyrol is bride stealing. During the wedding breakfast the bride always keeps an eye on her bouquet. This is because if somebody succeeds in stealing it, he is considered to have “stolen” the bride too.
With this custom, the bride and her bouquet are “kidnapped” by friends of the couple and taken to a bar nearby. As soon as the groom notices that his wife has been “kidnapped” he sets off with the best man to search for her. When he finds her, he must pay all outstanding bills and symbolically buy his wife's freedom.
Did you know that in the past, the bridal bouquet would be left on the grave of a parent or parents who had passed away? Today the bride throws it behind her into a crowd of unmarried women. Popular belief has it that the woman who catches it will be the next to marry.