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Danish Traditions
DURING THE MEAL
Between each course of the meal at the
reception, it is traditional for family and friends to provide short
entertainment pitches relating to the bride and/or groom. These are
optional (no pressure).
The entertainment pitches can take any any
form, but should be no longer than 5 minutes. Some ideas are listed below,
but if you can think of others, then feel free to use them:
1. Speeches
2. Songs (maybe changing the text to a well
known tune)
3. Poems
4. Presentations
5. Plays / Sketches
6. Booklet of funny photos
7. Quizzes
It's not unusual
for the speaker to distribute handouts such as song lyrics, poems,
questionnaires, or incriminating photographs.
All of this must happen over the course of the
meal. That's why the dinner at a Danish wedding reception is usually four
or five hours long.
The entertainment pitches will be scheduled
and coordinated with kitchen staff via the Toastmaster. Anyone wishing to
participate (this is totally optional by the way) should e-mail the
Toastmaster or Best Man prior to wedding (although he may accept on the
day spontaneous submissions)
Adding to the
interest of meal time are the kissing traditions. Whenever the groom
leaves the room, all the men in the room rush over and queue up to kiss
the bride. Whenever the bride leaves the room, all the women rush over to
kiss the groom. The use of tongue is discouraged.
AFTER THE MEAL
It is traditional
for the bride and groom to have their first dance on their wedding day
(i.e. before midnight). The Danish waltz is played and the bride and
groom begin their dance in the centre of the floor. All the guests will
form a circle around them, clapping faster and faster and inching up on
the bride and groom until at last they have no room to dance and must
kiss. In the middle of this kiss, the groom is wrenched away from his
bride and held up in the air while someone comes along and cuts off the
toes of his socks (preferably not someone too drunk or with a nervous
disposition).
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