Description: Mexican marriages are fun-filled, full of life, and centered on family and friends. To them, culture and tradition is everything. We’ve picked the 4 most popular Mexican wedding traditions you’ll find in nearly all the Mexican weddings, whether modern or traditional.

Weddings are an important life event and stage that many people look forward to. Whether you’re single and browsing best dating sites review for your perfect match or already engaged and looking forward to throwing a marriage party soon, we’ve got you covered. Below are some Mexican wedding traditions you can borrow to inspire your marriage ceremony.

The True Mexican Wedding Traditions

Mexican wedding traditions combine cultural elements with a Christian background to create a unique blend of values and customs. While modern marriage ceremonies are currently taking over, there are still some Mexican wedding traditions that are worth incorporating into your ceremony. We’ve highlighted the four most common Mexican wedding traditions and their meanings as they are perceived in this community.

 

• The Mexican Wedding Reception

 

 In Mexican Wedding traditions, reception is an important part of the event that involves lots of dancing, incredible food, and desserts. More often, the reception will have an open bar where traditional tequila, beers, and margaritas are served. Spanish toast, sweets, cakes, cookies, and candies are also common in most Mexican marriage ceremonies.

To complement the Mexican wedding traditions, food such as pork carnitas, tacos, chiles Rellenos, tamales, enchiladas mole, and more are served. Nearly all the culinary delights will have some traditional flavors, including rice and cinnamon (horchata), lime, tamarind, and a watermelon (Sandia).

Desserts like flan, sweet bread (pan dulce), and fried fritters (buñuelos) are the other foods served and crucial to this event, just like the other Mexican wedding traditions.

 

• Special Dances and Musical

 

 Dance and music are a vital part of the Mexican wedding traditions. Several dances mark this special occasion. Family members and friends and even the couple join hands in celebrating the moment in style. Of all the songs that are part of the Mexican wedding traditions, snake dance or the “La Vibora de La Mar, is the most unique. This special dance is fun and probably the highlight of the ceremony.

The snake dance is one of the Mexican wedding traditions accompanied by a song, where the groom and the bride stand on chairs opposite each other forming an arch. The guests then pass through the arch, dancing while holding hands. The goal is to keep the dance going without breaking the snake formation.  

Another popular dance that’s part of the Mexican wedding traditions is the money dance. Here, female guests pay to dance with the groom while male guests pay to dance with the bride by spinning dollar notes on their attire. These Mexican wedding traditions allow friends and family members to bond with the newlyweds and to extend their best wishes to the couple.

 

• The Thirteen Coins

 

As part of the Mexican wedding traditions, there are 13 gold coins, called “arras,” placed inside a decorated gold box and for the groom to give to the bride. However, the pastor must bless the coins first.

 In the Mexican Wedding traditions, 13 coins represent Jesus and the 12 apostles. This symbolizes the groom’s commitment and desire to support the bride, and it shows that their relationship has God as the key to the success of their marriage.

This is one of the Mexican wedding traditions that remind the newlyweds that their treasure is now one. And that they should share all they have together and extend this gratitude to those who are less fortunate than them.

 

•  The Gift-Giving Sponsors

 

Every ceremony comes with a budget, and as a good gesture to the newlyweds, there are always people ready to chip in and help settle a part of the event costs. Mexican wedding traditions provide for this selfless and generous act. The tradition stems from the old times where marriage ceremonies were more of a get-together, where people came to help, care, and celebrate.

 So, in the Mexican wedding traditions, who pays for the expenses? You guessed it right, the gift-giving sponsors or the “padrinos.” These are people from the community who help the groom, and the bride pays for specific event costs. There are different types of sponsors or padrinos, depending on the kind of support they offer. For example:

• The lucky coins sponsors
• The tie-the-knot sponsors
• Flower sponsors
• Food, beverage, and photography sponsors, etc. 

More often, the gift-giving sponsors are members of the event’s party and play a critical part in making the Mexican wedding traditions.

Wrapping it up

Apart from the four Mexican wedding traditions discussed above, there’s the after-party and the marriage lasso (El Lazo). The lasso is a string of rosary beads and flowers placed around the couple’s shoulders. This is one of the many Mexican wedding traditions that’s closely tied to Catholicism. The couple wears this El Lazo for the remainder of the mass until the priest removes it.

Which of the Mexican wedding traditions above are you familiar with? Or what have we not covered that you would love to share? Let us know in the comments.

 

Authors bio:

Rebecca Shinn is a freelance writer and dating and relationship expert with a Psychology degree. Her field of expertise is relationship, dating, and marriage. The important part of Rebecca’s practice is to help couples with communication skills, problem-solving skills, stress management, or finance skills. 

Rebecca started writing 2 years ago to inspire and help people to have a better dating life, strong relationships, or find a way to keep a marriage strong for long years. 

With all said above, Rebecca is proud to be a mother and a wife so she doesn't only use her knowledge for helping others but keeping her family strong and happy.