My wedding dress was both blue and borrowed, for whatever it’s worth in American marriage superstitions and legends. This, however, doesn’t appear to play a role in German wedding superstition, which, surprisingly enough considering Germans’ reputation world-wide for lacking senses of humor, revolves around practical jokes and public humiliation.

Until death do they part…

I’ve heard that one German pre-wedding tradition, for example, is the kidnapping of the bride by the groom’s best friend. The two go hide out somewhere, and the groom is expected to run around following clues that will eventually lead him to claim his bride.

We were married on a Friday morning. Afternoon weddings cost an extra 80 euros, and we decided we’d rather spend the cash on decadence than extra sleep. Raised on fairy tales and Hollywood romantic comedies, German wedding regulations came as something of a surprise. All the paperwork, signatures, and officially stamped forms that we were asked to trade for a wedding date. Proof that we were both single. Proof that we both lived at the addresses that we said we did. Proof that we were who we said we were. They never mentioned any of this in Cinderella…

The true meaning of marriage: paperwork!