Burmese Culture

Art has been closely intertwined with religion and royalty in Burman history. Temples, pagodas and palaces displayed the artistic skills of painters, wood carvers and sculptures. Temples and pagodas were traditionally built of brick and many are still standing. The great palaces, however, were made of wood, and only one badly-deteriorating example of these beautiful carved structures remains today. Art and architecture, which relied on royal support, faded when the last royal kingdom collapsed.
Although court culture has been extinguished, popular street-level culture is vibrant and thriving. Drama is the mainstay of this culture, and just about any celebration is a good excuse for a pwe (show). Performances may recount Buddhist legends, or be more light-hearted entertainments involving slapstick comedy, dance, ensemble singing or giant puppets. Burman music is an integral part of a pwe; it originates from Siam and emphasises rhythm and melody. Instruments are predominantly percussive and include drums, boat-shaped harps, gongs and bamboo flutes.
Off the record: Mind your manners Over 85% of Burman are Theravada Buddhist, although it is not the official state religion and since the Ne Win government takeover, it has actually officially occupied a less central role in Burman life. In the Rakhine region, towards Bangladesh, there are many Muslims. Christian missionaries have had some success among hill tribes but many remain staunch animists.
Burmese is the predominant language and has its own alphabet and script. Though you're hardly going to have time to master the alphabet, it may be worth learning the numerals, if only so you can read the bus numbers. English is spoken by a few Burmans, particularly by the older generation.
It's easier to buy authentic Burman dishes from food stalls rather than restaurants. Chinese and Indian eateries predominate, and hotel restaurants tend to remove much of the chilli and shrimp paste from their Burman dishes. Rice is the core of any Burman meal. To this is added a number of curry options and a spicy raw vegetable salad, and almost everything is flavoured with ngapi - a dried and fermented shrimp paste. Chinese tea is generally preferable to the over-strong, over-sweet and over-milky Burman tea. Sugar-cane juice is a very popular streetside drink, and stronger tipples include orange brandy, lychee wine and the alarming-sounding white liquor and jungle liquor.

Events

Festivals are drawn-out, enjoyable affairs and generally take place or culminate on full-moon days. There's often a country fair atmosphere about these celebrations, and they may feature stalls, pwes, music and boxing bouts. Independence Day on 4 January is marked by a seven-day fair in Yangon. Around the middle of April, the three-day Thingyan (water festival) starts the Burman new year. This is the height of the hot season, and it is sensibly celebrated by throwing buckets of cold water at anyone who dares venture into the streets. Girls chase boys through the streets, covering their bound victims in soot and parading them about; later, cows and fish are dressed up, adorned and set free by processions of dancing drummers. In October, the sober three-month Buddhist `Lent' ends and the Festival of Light celebrates Buddha's return from heaven. For three days Myanmar is lit up by fire balloons and paper lanterns and families make offerings at the local pagoda.

Thingyan, The Water Festival

Among the many festivals in Myanmar, Thingyan is the merriest and one of the few observed all over the country. Thingyan welcomes the Myanmar New Year by washing away the dirt of the body and bad memories of the old year. Everyone who ventures out of the house risks getting doused from head to toe by enthusiastic revellers. As it so very hot no one minds this a bit. Young people enjoy it most of all. Although they act scared of being soaked, it is a fine way of showing off to the opposite sex.
Thagyamin, King of the Celestials, visits earth every year at this time in human form. The festival starts on the day of his descent, and ends with his ascent back to his celestial kingdom four or five days later. It is believed that during his stay on earth Thagyamin examines every human being and inscribes the names of all the good on a golden tablet, while the bad are recorded on a dog-skin. Parents warn their children to behave and not kill or steal or tell lies because 'Thagyamin is watching'. Thagyamin is also custodian of the Buddha's teachings. He is a good-hearted god who helps all those in need.
The word Thingyan comes from a Sanskrit word meaning 'the passing of the sun from Pisces into Aries'. The day of Thagyamin's ascent marks the beginning of the Myanmar New Year, and usually falls at the end of the second week of April.
Thingyan is the most exciting event of the Myanmar year. From early morning, young people prepare their equipment at every street corner including water tanks, buckets, pumps and hoses. Nobody, except the very old or sick, and monks, escapes a soaking, regardless of their religion or nationality. Many organisations, government offices, private companies and individuals build decorated pandals (platforms) from which to drench passing motorists and pedestrians. In big cities like Yangon, Mandalay and Mawlamyine, boys and girls drive from one pandal to another to splash and be splashed. There is a lot of singing and dancing, traditional as well as modern. In Mandalay, huge decorated floats carry singers, dancers and musicians around the town performing at the various pandals.
In former days, young girls caught the young men and painted their faces with oily soot until they looked like circus clowns, a custom that has more or less died out in the towns but continues in the countryside.
But Thingyan is not all fun and play. It is also a time for performing meritorious deeds. Some of the men become monks and women nuns during the festival or simply go to a monastery to observe eight or nine Buddhist precepts, or sometimes as many as ten. Many people make traditional delicacies, especially the popular 'Mon't-lone-yay-baw', which are offered to the monks and distributed in the neighbourhood to passers-by.
Other meritorious deeds include setting free birds from their cages or captive fish in nearby lakes and ponds. Some people believe that spending too much on New Year's Day means they will go on overspending for the rest of the year and so curb themselves. Most devout Buddhists will also take special care of old people of their acquaintance, bathing them and shampooing them with special soap made from acacia fruit and bark from the linden tree.
But, sad to say, the festival is becoming too boisterous, with car accidents and fights among the youngsters using high-pressure hoses. It would be nice if everyone would refrain from becoming aggressive and keep to the traditional custom of just sprinkling each other with water.

Burma's 'tourist life line'

Burma is rapidly emerging from its cocoon of self-imposed isolation. And, as AMAR GROVER discovered, a visit to this land of golden pagodas is like a trip back in time.
Long isolated, even from immediate neighbours Burma, or Myanamar as it prefers to be called now, is rapidly emerging, from a wasting socialist cocoon. Visit Myanmar Year has ended and as the accompanying controversy over visiting the country recedes, it is certain visitors will come once more. And, this seems to be what its people want.
Old hands may miss downtown Yangon’s complete absence of traffic, its “town from the lost end of time” feel. But for me, the city retains an intriguing mix. Ancient wooden Chevrolet buses still pack in the commuters and rumble up and down the Colonial British grid-like streets. The air of neglect is being gradually offset by development. Burma’s famous Strand Hotel has been thoroughly revamped (despite the air-conditioning ceiling fans still turn, giving that film set feel) and in the evening impromptu markets spring up on virtually every street corner.
Though a large Indian community stayed behind after independence in 1948, Burma is overwhelmingly Buddhist. Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda, rising nearly 100 metres from its base, is a pivotal point. One of the largest and most famous in the country, it is reputed to contain hairs of the Buddha and has survived earthquakes, fires and pillage.
I visited Shwedagon Pagoda on several evenings when the soaring golden stupa was aflame with the sun’s last rays.
Worshippers stood or sat before their planetary posts, determined by one’s day of birth, while monks reclined in quiet alcoves surrounded by clay Buddha statues. A dazzling array of pavilions, shrines and prayerhalls make up the complex and it’s quite likely a local will approach and talk you through a tour of the temple. Rather than attempt Yangon’s other less interesting pagodas, it might be better to save your stamina for Pagan in the north.
In the meantime we made for Mandalay, Burma’s second city and the capital before the arrival of the British. There’s enough here to keep you busy for days, and its regular street life — trishaws, bustling markets and the goings on along the banks of the Irrawaddy River — offers more variety than any other town. Only from the summit of Mandalay Hill can the vastness of the old Palace be appreciated. In one of the country’s great cultural tragedies, this immense wooden structure caught fire in 1945 as the Japanese tried to hold off Allied forces. Only the wide moat and high walls remain, outlining a square of 2km-long sides.
Instead, I ventured to a collection of pagodas and monasteries south of Mandalay Hill. At the Shwenandaw Kyaung you can see traditional Burmese woodwork, large panels beautifully mottled and aged by the elements. The Kuthodaw Pagoda is known for its 730 inscribed marble slabs. Each is housed in a pavilion and together they make up one complete Buddhist text.
These have spawned a host of bizarre statistics — 450 days to read the whole lot, and 2400 monks once read it in a continuous six-month relay.
Some of the best day-trips from Mandalay are to the sites of old capitals strung along the banks of the Irrawaddy River. Being built of wood, the palaces are long gone. However, the real appeal of these outings are not the palaces, but in discovering a more rustic Burma. Amarapura proved not so much a “city of immortality” but a quiet enclave of watery fields, buffalo and the charming U Bien’s Bridge. A ruined palace provided the teak for this one kilometre construction and I happily watched locals fishing off its stumpy pillars.
Mingun, on the other side of Mandalay, is another popular outing. Access is by boat, an 11km journey upriver past low, sandy banks, tent-like huts and a handful of villages. The Mingun Pagoda was never completed, in fact it never became more than the base of what may have become the world’s largest pagoda. It’s an extraordinary ruin, split by an 1838 earthquake, yet still accessible to those willing to go barefoot. A massive 90-tonne bell hangs in a nearby pavilion and local children delight in scampering about its curves.
Some of the country’s most picturesque pagodas can be found at Sagaing on hills looming over the Irrawaddy River. We came by way of the Ava Bridge, a pre-war, wrought iron monster built across brick pillars. Surprisingly, it is the river’s only bridge, and totally at odds with the majestic and spiritual surroundings.
Of all the journeys one can make in Burma, the 10 to 12 hour cruise down this great river is probably the most popular. It’s not a trip for its own sake. The destination is the city of Pagan — one of Asia’s great archaeological sites — situated on a vast plain broken only by hundreds of pagodas in all shapes and sizes.
We awoke before dawn, hailed a trishaw to the dock and mingled with bleary-eyed passengers and crew. On our boat there was strict segregation — locals squeezed together below and foreigners (plus a few seemingly privileged monks) on deck chairs above. We could, and did, go down freely but they never came up. Perhaps the only justification for this was in the ticket price.
It is a tranquil cruise with just a few stops. Low, distant banks were offset by occasional hamlets set back even further and other boats passed infrequently. We called at unmarked, jettyless stops packed with villagers, traders, passengers and onlookers. It all suggested a vibrant life beyond.
Pagan may be an archaeological site, but its appeal is immediate and rarely disappointing. Pagodas, nothing but pagodas, in all shapes, sizes, and states of preservation. From around 1057AD to 1278AD, the kingdom’s kings launched a furious building programme, but the city was abandoned when Kublai Khan’s hordes appeared on the scene. All traces of other buildings — palaces, monasteries, houses — has long since vanished. Only pagodas, religious structures built of brick and masonry, have survived.
They are spread out over 40 square kilometres so, unless one can afford a car, the best way to get around is by bike or horse and cart. The setting is completely rural and the immediate towns are more like overgrown villages.
It’s wise to get hold of a site map and decide which pagodas and temples merit a visit — most guidebooks note around 40 to 50 monuments, more than enough for all but the most devoted. People spend days out here, never returning to the same place and you often see farmers in their fields or bullock carts lumbering along dusty tracks.
We made one final excursion from Pagan, hiring a car for the 50km run to Mt Popa. Perched on a distinctive outcrop amidst a sharp range of hills, the temple here is known for the worship of nats —guardian spirits — who are either good or evil.
Steep covered stairs lead up to this peculiar spot and there are excellent views across the countryside. In some ways, Mt Popa looks better from a distance since most of its shrines are a bit kitsch. But if you’re ever there, keep this to yourself, you don’t want to be tripped up by a mischievous nat.

Languages in the Philippines
Filipino (formerly Pilipino) is based on Tagalog and is the official language of the Philippines.  In spite of being the national language, only about 55 percent of Filipinos speak the language. In addition to Filipino are about 111 distinct indigenous languages and dialects, of which only about 10 are important regionally.
English is generally used for educational, governmental and commercial purposes and is widely understood since it is the medium of instruction in schools.  The Philippines are the third largest group of English speaking people in the world, after the United States and the United Kingdom.
Since English is widely spoken in the Philippines, it is common to hear Filipinos use a mixture English and Filipino words or phrases, known as "Taglish" (a mixture of English and Tagalog), in their everyday conversations. A steadily dwindling minority still speak Spanish, which had at one time been an official language.  


Filipino Society & Culture
Filipino Family Values
. The family is the centre of the social structure and includes the nuclear family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and honorary relations such as godparents, sponsors, and close family friends.
. People get strength and stability from their family. As such, many children have several godparents.
. Concern for the extended family is seen in the patronage provided to family members when they seek employment.
. It is common for members of the same family to work for the same company.
. In fact, many collective bargaining agreements state that preferential hiring will be given to family members.

Filipino Concept of Shame
. Hiya is shame and is a motivating factor behind behaviour.
. It is a sense of social propriety and conforming to societal norms of behaviour.
. Filipinos believe they must live up to the accepted standards of behaviour and if they fail to do so they bring shame not only upon themselves, but also upon their family.
. One indication of this might be a willingness to spend more than they can afford on a party rather than be shamed by their economic circumstances.
. If someone is publicly embarrassed, criticized, or does not live up to expectations, they feel shame and lose self-esteem.
Meeting Etiquette
. Initial greetings are formal and follow a set protocol of greeting the eldest or most important person first.
. A handshake, with a welcoming smile, is the standard greeting.
. Close female friends may hug and kiss when they meet.
. Use academic, professional, or honorific titles and the person's surname until you are invited to use their first name, or even more frequently, their nickname.
Gift Giving Etiquette
. If you are invited to a Filipino home for dinner bring sweets or flowers to the hosts.
. If you give flowers, avoid chrysanthemums and white lilies.
. You may send a fruit basket after the event as a thank you but not before or at the event, as it could be interpreted as meaning you do not think that the host will provide sufficient hospitality.
. Wrap gifts elegantly as presentation is important. There are no colour restrictions as to wrapping paper.
. Gifts are not opened when received.


Dining Etiquette
If you are invited to a Filipino's house:
. It is best to arrive 15 to 30 minutes later than invited for a large party.
. Never refer to your host's wife as the hostess. This has a different meaning in the Philippines.
. Dress well. Appearances matter and you will be judged on how you dress.
. Compliment the hostess on the house.
. Send a handwritten thank you note to the hosts in the week following the dinner or party. It shows you have class.
Table manners
. Wait to be asked several times before moving into the dining room or helping yourself to food.
. Wait to be told where to sit. There may be a seating plan.
. Do not start eating until the host invites you to do so.
. Meals are often served family- style or are buffets where you serve yourself.
. A fork and spoon are the typical eating utensils.
. Hold the fork in the left hand and use it to guide food to the spoon in your right hand.
. Whether you should leave some food on your plate or finish everything is a matter of personal preference rather than culture-driven.

The People

Visual Arts

Laotian Literature

Traditional Festivals

Lao New year - Pii Mai or Song Kran

Hmong New Year

Spirit Gates

For the photographs on this page, we've used the wedding of one of our staff members, Ms. Hang. Hang and Mr. Minh, her husband, now have a year-old son and are very happy!
The pace of change
Modern traditional weddings in Vietnam differ significantly to those in the past. The most obvious change is the cost – the social pressure of ‘face’ leads some families to spend up to the equivalent of ten year’s salary. Another obvious difference is the average age of the couple.
In the past, a groom of 20 with an 18-year-old bride would be considered an ideal couple. Today, education, a degree of female emancipation, and the need to pursue a career have raised the figures by five or even ten years for middle-class city dwellers. Working class couples tend to marry earlier.
Contemporary beliefs
The tradition of matchmaking has largely faded away, but most parents have firm views – were they to decide that the prospective spouse was unsuitable, most young people would accept the verdict and break off the relationship.
Some young people seek the services of an astrologer in advance to determine whether their future liaison will be successful. If the result were negative, most would withdraw.
Women a couple of years over 30 are considered to be past their sell-by date - for men, it’s a about 35. The possibility of being left on the shelf is frightening, especially for women. As the deadline draws nearer, individuals’ and families’ criteria become looser – better an unsuitable partner than no partner!
Arranging the marriage
The first stage of marriage is usually when the young man's parents consult a fortune-teller to see whether the couple is destined to live together as husband and wife. If so, he will formally request the young woman's hand.
The actual request is made by a party comprising the young man's parents, or aunt and uncle if he is an orphan, and a go-between who go to meet the young woman's parents. The party takes gifts such as betel leaves and areca nuts, and asks what the family requires for their daughter’s hand. The young woman's parents will usually ask for a sum of money to cover the costs of the marriage preparations.
The engagement
The next stage in the process is the engagement, which, once the consent has been given, usually follows several months after. However, in some circumstances such as university or one partner working abroad, it can be much longer.
Vietnamese people believe that some days are particularly auspicious, so choosing appropriate days for the engagement and the wedding is another task for the fortune-teller.
If the fiancée or her family breaks off the engagement for any reason, all of the gifts must be returned to the young man's family. If the fiancé backs out before the big day, her family keeps them.
The engagement is a solemn ceremony. On the day, the young man will travel with his family to the young woman's house bearing gifts of betel nuts, cake, wine, cigarettes and so on. Young women wear red ao dais and a banquet is held after formal rituals are performed before the ancestral altar. The engagement ceremony is a chance for the young woman's family to meet their future son-in-law.
The wedding day
The final stage is the wedding day. Traditionally, the couple must stay apart on the day before to prevent bad luck. On the night before, the bride's mother will tend her daughter’s hair with several combs. Every comb means something, but the most important is the third comb - at that time she will ask for luck and happiness her new home.
On the big day, the bride’s family and invited guests assemble at her house to await the arrival of the bridegroom. Shortly before the groom’s party is due, the bride slips away to don her wedding dress.
Gifts from the groom's family
The groom’s parents and immediate relatives are preceded by an odd number of young men smartly dressed in shirt and tie, and dark trousers. They each carry a tray covered in a red cloth, or alternatively a large red and gold canister, containing gifts of betel leaves, areca nuts, wine, fruit, cakes, tea and so on.
In the past, they would have walked, but today most wedding parties opt for cars and change to cyclos for the last part of the journey.
Red is the dominant colour in a traditional Vietnamese wedding – it’s considered a lucky colour and will lead to a rosy future.
Upon arrival the young men dismount and are met by the same number of young women dressed in red ao dais. The men hand the gifts to the women who take them inside.
Each young woman hands her male counterpart a small amount of money to designate that they are ‘working’ – there is a superstition that being an unpaid helper at a wedding will mean that you won’t marry.
Accepting the gifts
The leading couple of the groom’s party enters the bride’s house carrying a tray of small cups of wine and invite the brides parents to take a sip. By accepting the toast, the bride’s parents symbolically agree to admit the groom’s party. A few years ago, this would be accompanied by firecrackers, but many accidents and a subsequent ban put an end to the tradition.
The groom's family introduce themselves and ask permission for their son to marry his bride. A Master of Ceremonies (usually a respected person chosen from the bride's relatives) instructs the bride’s parents to present their daughter. The bride then enters. Traditionally, this will be a red au dai. The groom will wear a dark suit or, more traditionally, a black ao dai.
The ceremony
The wedding ceremony begins in front of the altar. The bride and the groom kneel down and pray, asking their ancestors' permission to be married and their blessing on their family-to-be. The couple then turn around and bow to the bride's parents to thank them for raising and protecting her since birth.
They then bow their heads towards each other to show their gratitude and respect to their soon-to-be husband or wife. The Master of Ceremonies then advises the wedding couple on starting a new family and the two sets of parents take turns to share their experiences and give blessings.
The groom and the bride then exchange wedding rings, and the parents give the newly wedded couple gold bracelets, earrings and other valuable gifts.
The wedding banquet
After the marriage, both wedding parties leave to join guests that were not invited to the marriage ceremony at a large banquet. This is usually a large gathering, often in the hundreds and sometimes more. The groom, bride, and their family are once again introduced to the guests and everyone drinks a toast. Dinner or lunch is served at the table.
During the reception, the groom, bride, and their parents visit each table to thank their guests. In return, the guests give envelopes containing wedding cards, money gifts and a blessing to the newly wedded couple.After the banquet, the groom’s party and the bride leave for the groom’s house, where she will live. Later, the bride’s party follows to inspect the accommodation - particularly the marital chamber.

Traditional wedding celebrations and Brazilian folklore are among the richest and most expressive of the world, rich in songs, legends, dances, beliefs, and foods. The mixture of Indigenous, Negro, and Caucasian races forms the Brazilian Nation, creating an intense diversity in wedding traditions and a vast cultural experience we can all enjoy.The numerous traditions in Brazilian culture , the phases of the moon, for example, determine when to plant and when to sow. Some folkloric traditions of Brazil are brought to us by Brazilian brides and grooms and give us many traditions for wedding celebrations.

Bride:The bride must be late, not 30 mins, but at least 10 minutes after the groom, you don't want to get there before him, do you?
 
Dance:Pagode is a form of samba (a dance) which is often played and danced at weddings. Lots of wonderful Samba music.

Dinner Tables:Tables (instead of numbering) can be named after cities in Brazil that the guests are from.

Donkey:Bumba-Meu-Boi ~ A man would prove his worth as a suitable husband by his ability to tame an unbridled donkey.If his attempts were successful, he had permission to marry the daughter of the man who owned the donkey. This tradition we here of often but it was just from a particular area of Brazil and Cape Cod has few donkeys but many lovely Brazilian ladies.

Drinks:
Capirinha is a Brazilian drink made of an alcohol called "cachaça" (cashassa) which is like rum but made from sugar cane instead of molasses then put into very sweet limeade.Ingredients1 lime quartered1 tablespoon of sugar1 shot of cachaça / vodka is a substitute1/2 Cup of ice cubes with waterPrepare:Place the lime and sugar in the bottom of a glass.Using the handle of a wooden spoon, crush and mashthe limes. Pour the liqueur and ice. Stir well.1 lime2 ounces of cachaçaSugar to tasteIce cubesWash the lime and roll it on the board to loosen the juices. Cut the lime into pieces and place them in a glass. Sprinkle with the sugar and crush the pieces (pulp side up) with a pestle. Just enough to release the juice, otherwise it will get bitter. Add the cachaça and stir to mix. Add the ice and stir again. It is delicious and potent!You can also make a pitcher of caipirinha. Figure out how many people and multiply amounts. If you can't find cachaça where you live, use a good vodka. The drink will then be called caipiroshka. No vodka? Use white rum and you will have a caipiríssima. Caipirinhas made with sake are all the rage in Rio now! Try one...Top of pageEngagement Rings:
In Brazil, both bride-to-be and groom-to-be wear an engagement ring. The tradition is very different in Brazil, if you are getting engaged both of you have to wear an engagement ring on your right hands, when you get married you switch , you put the ring on the left hand.
Flag:
Groomsmen can carry or be pinned with a small Brazilian flag instead of a flower..
Food:Give "casadinhos" is a wedding favor: they are Brazilian cookies and their name in English is "well-married" cookies.

6 x	Egg yolks
3 x	Egg whites, well beaten
250 gm	Sugar
300 gm	Flour
3/4 tbl	Baking powder

InstructionsInstructions: This is from Brazil and its called "Casadinhos" (diminutive for married in Portuguese). They are two cookies (about two in. diameter) put together with Marmalade, honey, jam, Boston cream, fudge, something sweet. I have two recipes, but never tried them. You can also make a white cake, cut it in squares or circles, and put two pieces together with the filling you like.

Golden part of the cake should be on the outer side. When you have a marriage, you make the casadinhos, then roll them in (confectioner) sugar and wrap* each one of them nicely, like wedding favors. Then they are called "Bem Casados" (nicely, well married in Portuguese), a wish for a sweet life together. You can distribute them to the guests as they live the reception, after the dessert or cake is served, with the wedding favors...

* They are usually wrapped in cellophane , and then crepe paper, but you can do it any way you like. You can add vanilla sugar or cinnamon to the sugar.

Mix all ingredients but the filling, adding the baking powder last. Open the dough with the rolling pin and cut it with cookie cutter (the traditional shape is a circle) Bake the cookies in a greased and floured cookie sheet. After they are baked, put the cookies together, two at a time, with the filling. Flat (bottom) side of the cookie inside. Then roll them in sugar.At a Brazilian wedding reception, the guests arrive at the specified time and stayed until the food is all gone. All exhausted, well fed and happy. It is fun!

Honeymoon:The Groom must pick the bride up to walk in to the new house/hotel room holding her on his arms and step inside with the right foot for the first night.


License:One of the main differences is in Brazil there is the signing of the marriage license as part of the ceremony.

Parent’s Gift:The Bride and Groom should give his parents a small present, and vice versa.

Prayer:A prayer said in Portuguese is a very nice touch for Brazilian guests.

Song:Brazilian song (by Vinicius de Morais), or the national anthem.

Translator:We also had a translator present, so all parties understand the whole service (except for the special music, which was all in Portuguese).Top of page.Wedding Dress:
The Bride is supposed to be late and if the groom sees her dress before the wedding it is considered very bad luck. The groom CANNOT see the bride dressed up before the
ceremony, he can't even see her gown, he'll only see it when she arrives for the wedding.In Brazil it can be difficult to find tuxes and matching dresses for them, so they just all wore whatever formal wear that could be found. Brazilian brides usually rent their wedding gown for a savings on its one time use. Like men rent tuxes here.

Wedding PartyI think the most different thing is the "padrinhos" (the wedding party. In Brazil, they don't pick them separately: bride's maids and groom's men. They choose couples--married or not, they even match them up .They usually have three couples on each side.

Wedding Rings:Another thing is .....do not drop your wedding bands at the time of exchange, it is known that if that happens your marriage won't last.