Haitian Wedding Traditions

The first topic I would like to hit on are wedding traditions from Haiti. I was doing some research on the Internet yesterday and there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of people marrying a Haitian man, while they themselves are American or a different nationality trying to blend their cultures for their wedding day. Well, this struck a chord with me as I will be in the same boat in the future :) so I took to compiling a short list of some Haitian wedding day traditions for these ladies that they may want to incorporate them into their wedding day.

• The groom leads his soon-to-be wife to the church, usually with her bridesmaids in tow 
• The church is decorated in colorful sheets and curtains
• The bride and groom are seated facing each other with their best man and maid of honor sitting at their sides respectively. The witnesses are seated behind the groom and best man.
• The certificate of marriage is signed by the wedding party during the ceremony
• The gifts are given at the wedding reception and usually don't contain cash offerings
• The wedding cake is usually cut at the couple's home a few days after the wedding, not at the reception

Well this is just some customs of marriage in Haiti. Use all or pick and choose which traditions you would like to incorporate into your ceremony and make them your own :)