Rustic wedding wishing tree

Rustic wedding wishing tree – etsy.com

There are so many ideas within Dutch wedding traditions that can be woven into your seating plan and wedding reception. We take a look at some of the traditions, and then investigate how they can be used to inspire your seating plan design.

Pre wedding parties

Guests are involved in a Dutch wedding before and after the event. A lovely old Dutch custom holds that before the wedding day, guests would visit the bride’s house where they would eat bruid suikas, (a traditional sweetmeat) accompanied by spiced wine.

Many Dutch couples will also invite guests to a short party before the wedding itself, to which extended family, friends, colleagues and/ or neighbours are invited. Guests are offered drinks, nuts, olives and tasty finger food before proceeding to the wedding venue.

Wish tree

A wonderful Dutch custom is the wedding “wish tree”. At the reception a beautiful tree branch is placed next to the bride and groom’s table, and paper leaves attached to pieces of colourful ribbon are placed at each guest’s place setting. Guests write their special wish for the happy couple on their leaves, which the bride and groom can then read and hang on the tree.

Clogs

Clogs hanging on wooden wallRenowned for its clogs, Dutch marriage customs reflect this cultural icon.

Traditional tales say that when a boy wanted to ask a girl for marriage, he would hand-carve a pair of clogs with beautiful designs. He would then place them secretly at the girl’s doorstep during the night. The boy would go back to the girl’s house the next morning and if the girl was wearing the clogs, that was the sign that she had accepted his marriage proposal.

Contemporary interpretations of this tradition sometimes see the bride or groom wear a pair of clogs for the wedding day only – they are then hung on the wall of the happy couple’s home, decorated with dried flowers.

Dutch etiquette for wedding seating plans

In the Netherlands, the most honoured position is either at the head of the table or in the centre, with the most important guests seated first to the left and then to the right of the bride and groom, in descending order of importance. This fits well with general format for a European wedding seating plan.

Traditional wedding top table

Traditional wedding top table layout

Tulip escort place cards

Tulip themed escort or place cards – etsy.com

The Netherlands is the world’s main producer of tulips, and these pretty escort cards pick up on this with a classic tulip design.

Other Dutch themes for your seating plan or escort cards would include windmills, clogs, Delft (blue and white) pottery, tulips or any other iconic Dutch emblem that you like!

Incorporate the traditional Dutch idea of a wishing tree with your escort card display. Hang your escort cards on an escort card tree, and invite guests to replace their card with a handwritten wish for the bride and groom. This creates a beautiful alternative to a guest book that the happy couple can treasure forever. Read more about how to design or make escort card trees in our article.

Table décor

Red and White Tulip And Rose Wedding BouquetsUse bright, cheerful tulips as your floral centrepiece, and either use Dutch ‘Delft’ pottery or bring its clean blue and white colours into your colour scheme.

Traditionally, a Dutch reception venue is decorated with evergreen leaves, which signify everlasting love. The bride and groom sit under a canopy of fragrant evergreens, and receive gifts and best wishes from their guests. Gifts are unwrapped immediately and passed around to be admired. The bride and groom will personally thank the guests for their gifts as each is unwrapped.

Favours could include traditional sweetmeats called, ‘bridal sugar’ and ‘bride’s tears.’ ‘Bridal sugar’ is a typical Dutch wedding favour consisting of five sweets wrapped in tulle. Dutch custom uses the number five as representing the five wedding wishes of love, happiness, loyalty, prosperity, and virility. ‘Bridal tears’ is a small bottle of spiced wine, which contains real gold leaf to represent tears.

Other ideas

Dutch wedding receptions are famous for serving sweet and heavy foods such as sugar cake, marzipan, sugared almonds, and a variety of heavy food and sweet cordials.

An old Dutch custom holds that before the wedding day, guests would visit the bride’s house where they would eat bruid suikas, (a traditional sweetmeat) accompanied by spiced wine. Today, many Dutch couples will invite guests to a short party before the wedding itself, offering drinks, nuts, olives and tasty finger food before proceeding to the wedding venue.

Remember to look at our Dutch wedding seating plan Pinterest board, full of ideas from clog themed escort cards to a seating plan using a real windmill!

References

http://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/locations/west_europe_traditions/dutch_traditions.html
http://www.weddingandpartynetwork.com/blog/wedding-traditions/dutch-wedding-traditions/
http://www.etiquettescholar.com/dining_etiquette/table-etiquette/europe-w_table_manners/dutch.html

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