Interesting facts about Iceland Wedding traditions

Previously you could read about my favourite weird viking wedding traditions. Today I would like to share some more current Iceland wedding traditions, sometimes originated from the old times.

Iceland wedding cake tower

Wedding cakes are state of art. In the past, I didn’t like them very much, as they were super sweet. Now couples can choose any design they want,  any flavours thy want and any decoration they can imagine. The situatioon is not different in Iceand. There is, however, one cake that is super popular on all special occasions in Iceland: christenings, confirmations, and yes, you guessed it – weddings. The cake is called kransekaka and it’s basically a tower of cake rings, concealing something inside: bottle of champagne, wine, or tower of chocolate or sweets. How good does it sound, huh? Of course the cake can be huge or very small, perfect for small destination elopement wedding.

Brúðkaup means buying the bride

The Icelandic word for ‘wedding’ is brúðkaup, wat literally means ‘buying the bride’. Of course noone is buying anyone nowadays, but the name stayed. Along with some symbolic ‘trade’ between father of the bride and the groom. It’s the father who is walking the bride down the aisle. Iceland wedding ceremony includes a lot of standing and sitting, and after saying ‘I do’, groom switches his seats with the father of the bride.

Gifts in the morning

It’s hard to choose for me if I like the cake tower or the morning gifts tradition better. In the old times the guests will playfully bid for the brides virginity. She would of course choose the groom, who has prepared a special gift for her. Nowadays noone is biding on the virginity. But the tradition of the morning gift stayed and both groom and bride give each other something nice on the next day after the wedding.