Andrea wrote requesting information about Australian wedding traditions:
Hello,
I enjoyed your site. If my future husband and I have children someday we will teach them some Australian songs. :)
I am marrying a wonderful Australian man, and I want to incorporate some elements of Australian culture into our wedding. I may have some Australian candies for wedding favors etc. Can you think of Australian elements, flowers, poems, love songs, cakes, appetizers, recipes, traditions etc? I would like to surprise my fiance with little extras. I even sent him the lyrics of Home Among the Gum Trees and he remembered singing it.
Thanks,
Andrea
Northern California High School Teacher
If anyone can provide information about Australian Wedding Customs, please let us know about it in the comments below.
Thanks in advance!
Lisa
This article was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 6:35 pm and is filed under Australia, Countries & Cultures, Customs and Traditions, Questions, Readers Questions, Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
14 Responses to “Can Someone Help with Information about Australian Wedding Customs?”
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February 7th, 2008 at 1:44 am
G’Day Andrea,
I’m American, but I live and got married in Australia and we played ‘I still call Australia Home’ and ‘Waltzing Matilda’ during the reception and all the Aussie’s started singing which surprised me!
As for cake/treats, you can have Lamingtons, which is kinda like a zinger/snowball..remember those hostess cakes? It has coconut on the outside and really light and tasty.
If you’re having a lot of activities before the wedding you can serve fish and chips (french fries!) or Aussie burgers with Canadian bacon, pineapple, onion, fried egg and beets (yes Beets!!! Probably the best burger you’ll ever have!) Oh, to make the chips taste really great get chicken salt..i’d never heard of it until I came out here and now french fries just don’t taste the same without it.
As for flowers, my husband said banksias, wattle & bottle brush & warratah are all native flowers and eucalyptus…I can’t remember how pretty these flowers are, but they do use a LOT of orchids out here for weddings.
Lastly, Aussies like to drink (which i’m sure you already know)so if you’re able to import Victoria Bitter (aka: “VB” which is a beer) and Carlton Draught (a beer) there’s also Penfold wines (I think you can get that in the states) that’ll go over very well I think : )
Oh, I think it’s gross, as a special treat, if you’re future hubby likes veggimite, why not surprise him with a jar….gross, I know, but they LOVE it out here. Very very Australian!
Good luck and congrats..Aussie men are the best!
Cheers!
March 31st, 2008 at 11:17 pm
i think the most traditional way to incorporate australian customs into a wedding is an open bar stocked to the roof full of beer (vb xxxx just not tooheys new) and invite the alcoholic uncle and you’ll be sorted… stay away from cliche songs such as i still call australia home because thats trying to hard.. another idea is to not get married in a church… go for an outdoor setting, on a beach, at the local or at your local on the beach…
April 18th, 2008 at 7:16 am
A tropical fruit salad with paw paw, rock melon, pineapple, passionfruit, banana (from Queensland), macadamia nut pie or slice (once again Queensland), pavalova (the Kiwis like to think they invented this but ….)
Use gumnuts for table decorations – they are very versatile and come in all shapes and sizes – can be used to decorate candles, placecards etc. Otherwise you could go with aboriginal designs.
Colours – either go with the earthy terra cottas etc or with the tropical greens and blues
Traditionally in pioneering days weddings were held in shearing sheds and there was always a big bush dance. You used hay bales for sitting on and decorated the hall with wattle. You would have to like this sort of thing though – maybe you are not the type.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I’m marrying an Australian as well… he’s from Queensland so our flowers are going to be the Queensland state flower: Cooktown Orchids.
Our favors are going to be mini boomerangs made by his father. We are then going to paint our wedding colors in stripes on the wings.
I want to find a cute wedding cake topper.. like kangaroos or something. No luck yet-may have to make something.
I definitely want to play Waltzing Matilda or Lee Kernighan has a song about Waltzing Matilda that I really love.
We are actually leaving for Australia in two weeks so I’m hoping to find some inspiration while we’re there.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Good luck in your search – you’ll have to let us know what you find!
Best wishes,
Mama Lisa
July 27th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Hello,
I am also marrying an Australian and am looking to incorporate as much Australian influence as possible.
Brittany have you had any luck with with a cake topper? I didn’t even think of that until I read your post, great idea. I have searched the web and am not having any luck. There is a website http://www.etsy.com that is full of hand made products from a wide variety of sellers. This is a place you might want to look at…maybe one of the girls on that website could make one??
Tifnie
January 6th, 2009 at 11:13 am
hi, i went to AUS last year i meet a Australian girl, and we fall in love. I want to know what is the best gift to give to a aussie girl?
January 1st, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Hello i ran across your website
i am from U.S.A
he is from Queensland , Yeppoon
we are planing on a Boat wedding
and a reception on the shore
what is a good wedding gift to get the Male australian
that dont (yes ) dont drink lol
ps he dont like Vegemite that well :P
and i need help on a wedding dress suitable
for a boat wedding
nothing frilly fancy , maybe a shorter to the knee dress
we are going barefoot ;)
March 8th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
We are making a cake in the next few weeks for a couple; one Australian and one Canadian and will be decorating it with a mix of Maple Leaves and eucalyptus leaves. This was decided upon after dismissing having a wee moose and wallaby holding hands on top! Sticky date pudding will definitely be one of the sweets.
March 18th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Hi, I appreciate your blog! Found it on Bing when I was looking for wedding bands.
March 20th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Hiring the right wedding planner will make your special day even better! Everything will be taken care of according as to how you would do it yourself. Seriously think about spending a little more money for a better result.
July 1st, 2010 at 9:26 am
Hi Everyone!
I am American, marrying an amazing Aussie man from Brissie. We are having a small wedding in my hometown in New Hampshire, but incorporating both Aussie and NH themes. I found an incredible website– company in Tasmania– and as for cake toppers, and Australian ones for that matter, check this out!
http://www.creativepapertas.com.au/products/aussie-animals.html
Good luck with all of your planning! :)
March 12th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Hiya,
I am an Australian and some of the nicest touches you could have would be with music: Tenterfield Saddler by Peter Allen is a gorgeous song that always makes me weepy. Nicole Kidman had it at her wedding, which should not put you off. ‘Even When I’m Sleeping’ by Leonardo’s Bride is lovely, ‘Into My Arms’ by Nick Cave, ‘My Happiness’ by Powderfinger isn’t strictly a love song, but would work especially with guests from afar…and if none of those work think about ‘Especially for you’ by Kylie and jason… just kidding.
If you want Australian sweets or chocolates, then try ordering Darrell Lea or Haighs as favours…
Invites or save the dates could be printed on postcards from Australia or you could use maps of australia as the background…
Green and gold would be the obvious colour scheme but I can see why people may avoid those…
Mini jars of vegemite would make great favours…
Good luck!!
Leanne
February 2nd, 2016 at 7:23 am
My advice, play the nutbush city limit by tina turner, there is no drunken Australian that can resist dancing to it. ive yet to be to a party that hasnt busted this one out. also any music by jimmie barns is certain to be well received. assuming he grew up in rural/suburban australia