A Guide To Swedish Wedding Traditions
Outdoor wedding reception in Örebro, Sweden.
One of the best parts of being a wedding photographer in Sweden is getting to witness all of the amazing Swedish wedding traditions that make weddings here so unique, vibrant, and fun.
These traditions are rooted in the rich and vibrant history of Sweden, and some of them date back centuries. They’re a beautiful way for a Swedish bride and groom to honour their heritage and connect with their culture on their wedding day.
If you’ve ever wondered what happens at a Swedish wedding, I’ve got you covered! Here are some of the most beautiful, meaningful, and straight-up fun Swedish wedding traditions.
What Is A Swedish Wedding Like?
The short answer is, it’s a whole lot of fun! A traditional Swedish wedding can take many different forms, but there are a few customs that are typically observed.
An Intimate Church Ceremony
First, while a truly amazing wedding can take place anywhere that has a special meaning to the couple, historically the most traditional Swedish weddings will take place in a church decorated with fresh birth leaves and summer flowers.
Swedish churches tend to be very old — I’m talking around the Middle Ages, circa 900 - 1200 — with some of them still in use! The Swedes started to get married in a church, in front of an altar, around 1400-1500, so this tradition is longstanding. Fun fact #1: We have around 3,400 churches — and 2,995 of them are protected by the Cultural Environment Act.
What makes traditional Swedish church weddings unique is that the bride and groom are truly the stars of the show — a wedding party with a team of bridesmaids and groomsmens, for example, is usually absent.
Hietaniemi church in Swedish Lapland dated 1745 with January light.
A Marriage Of Equals
Another thing that sets traditional Swedish weddings apart is the way that the wedding couple enters the church.
According to Swedish wedding customs, the couple typically enters the church together and walks down the aisle side-by-side. This is a symbol that the couple is entering into the marriage as equal partners, of their own free will.
The church also allows priests to wed same-sex couples in gender-neutral church ceremonies, including the use of the term marriage.
Traditional Meets Contemporary
Couples who are looking for a wedding ceremony that’s a bit more casual but still steeped in tradition should definitely consider getting married at Skansen, in Stockholm. An open-air museum opened in 1891, Skansen is one of the most traditional wedding locations in Sweden.
During the year, couples can get married on Skansen’s breathtaking ground beneath one of their beautiful floral canopies. In June, Skansen even offers drop-in weddings, where hundreds of couples can show up on the spur of the moment and get married on the spot without the pomp and circumstance of a full church ceremony — at almost no cost!
Since 2009 Sweden has a gender neutral marriage legislation. As a foreign citizen without residency in Sweden you can also get married in Sweden. Ref: RFSL
How Large Is A Traditional Swedish Wedding?
According to recent 2023 statistics, the average traditional Swedish features around 50 guests. On average, a wedding of this size typically costs about 77,000 sek (about €6,500 or USD $7,000). In the capital city of Stockholm and surrounding areas, weddings tend to be more expensive and feature more guests.
Fun fact #2: During the Viking era, a wedding that was shorter than three days was considered paltry — a sad and poor party!
When Do Traditional Swedish Weddings Take Place?
Most Swedish weddings take place during the summer months, between May and August. High season for winter weddings in Lapland is Dec to March.
What Do Swedish Brides Wear?
In accordance with Swedish marriage traditions, the bride typically wears a white dress and a floral crown, often made of myrtle leaves, a symbol of innocence.
Sometimes you might see a bride wearing a Swedish traditional wedding dress, which is typically multi-colored. Wedding guests might also wear a folk dress to the wedding! These beautiful dresses are different in appearance, depending on where in Sweden you’re from.
While these beautiful folk dresses are steeped in tradition, in modern times (since around the 1920s) a white dress has tended to become the norm, even in traditional Swedish weddings. Before that, it was common that "regular" brides wore something with colour and only royalty in Europe would wear silver or white! (Fun Fact #3: At the Nordic Museum, you can actually see what the clothing looked like).
Modern looking couple with a hint of traditions.
Swedish Engagement Ring Traditions
A traditional Swedish wedding puts its own slight spin on the typical engagement ring tradition. In many other cultures, only the bride-to-be will receive an engagement ring, but for a traditional Swedish marriage both the bride and groom will exchange engagement rings.
While in many cultures an engagement ring is usually designed to be flashy and ornate, often with an eye-catching stone, a traditional Swedish engagement ring is usually just a simple band of gold.
A more elaborate ring is reserved for the day of the wedding. During the ceremony, couples will exchange traditional Swedish wedding rings which are usually more ornate and are often decorated with precious stones like diamonds.
What Happens At A Traditional Swedish Wedding Party?
The wedding party and celebratory dinner are where some of the wildest, most joyful Swedish wedding traditions and customs take place.
A traditional Swedish wedding party often lasts all night! Unlike in the U.S. where the bride and groom will gracefully make an exit before all of their guests have left, the bride and groom at a Swedish wedding ceremony stay and dance the night away with their guests from beginning to end.
As a Swedish wedding photographer, this is one of my favourite Swedish wedding traditions, because more time partying means more incredible moments to photograph!
Let There Be Toasts!
When you go to a traditional Swedish wedding, be prepared to hear a lot of toasts! While a U.S. wedding might limit taste to just the parents of the bride and groom, with maybe a brief word or two from the best man or maid of honour, Swedish wedding ceremony traditions encourage toasts from many different guests — often between 10 and 20, and sometimes even more!
The first speech is usually a 'brudskål,' or bridal toast, typically delivered by the bride’s father in honour of the newlywed couple. It’s a traditional Swedish wedding blessing meant to wish the couple good luck in their future lives together, and once it’s over all the guests raise their glasses and shout, “Cheers to the bride and groom!”
While the traditional bridal toast is usually the first speech at the wedding, after it’s over, the couple usually doesn’t know beforehand who will be giving the rest of the speeches — it all comes as a surprise on the day of the wedding.
With so many toasts on the agenda, the wedding needs someone who can keep everything organised and coordinated to make sure things run smoothly. This person is usually one of the couple’s friends, who acts as the toastmaster for the evening and keeps everything running smoothly.
Often, a toastmaster will be relied upon not only to coordinate the toasts but also to keep the entire wedding running smoothly — from organising group photos (together with the photographer) to calling the guests to dinner and introducing the couple’s first dance.
It’s a big job, but usually the wedding photographer (hello, that’s me!) can provide support to make sure the toastmaster has everything they need to organise the perfect wedding.
Personally I love the toasts as they can be very emotional but also hilarious.
A Night Of Games
When you attend a traditional Swedish wedding, be prepared to play a lot of games! There are tons of classic Swedish wedding games, but a perennial favourite is the “Wedding Shoe Game.”
Think of this as an NSFW (“not safe for work”) version of the dating game: The bride and groom stand back-to-back, each holding one of their own shoes and one shoe belonging to their partner. The toastmaster will then ask the couple questions about themselves, starting with the relatively tame — ”Which of you is the most adventurous?” or “Which of you is the most organised?”–- and becoming gradually more personal (and raunchy!) as the game progresses.
The couple will raise either their own shoe or their partner’s shoe to indicate their answer to each question. Sometimes they’re in total agreement, and sometimes their answers are completely different! The result is hilarious, bawdy, and extremely fun!
The shoe game.
Warm Up Your Singing Voice
Songs are an essential part of any traditional Swedish wedding dinner. These can range from drinking songs to popular music to old university songs — if the couple has attended one of the older Swedish universities steeped in traditions and tons of old drinking songs, you can expect a lot of singing.
Also, don’t think that you can get away with just sitting back and listening to people sing for you! These are full-blown sing-a-longs, and participation is expected. If you don’t know the words, don’t worry! There’s usually a small book with the songs provided by the toastmaster. Once the singing starts at a Swedish wedding, everyone is encouraged to join in!
Plenty Of Kisses To Go Around
One of the most unique and surprising Swedish wedding traditions for people attending their first Swedish wedding is the Swedish wedding kissing tradition. Simply put, if at any point during the wedding dinner you see guests going up to the bride or groom and giving them a kiss, don’t be alarmed. This is all part of the plan!
Throughout the dinner, the couple is expected to stay together from the beginning of the festivities until the end. This means that if one of the couple needs to leave the room temporarily at any point over the course of the evening, somebody might notice and start tapping their glass as a signal to the rest of the guests that the bride/groom has been left on their own.
In response to this signal, all the women in the room will get up, run over to the groom, and line up to give him a kiss (don’t worry, it’s usually just a kiss on the cheek).
The same thing happens if the groom ever leaves the bride’s side. All the men in the room will quickly form a line to kiss the bride. This tradition is so much fun and makes for some of the most hilarious and memorable moments in the entire wedding!
The tradition is a light kiss on the cheek. This time a friend surprised the groom with something else.
Swedish Wedding Cake Tradition
The wedding cake can be a polarising subject! A common complaint I hear is that wedding cakes might look pretty but in the end, they’re also quite boring — bland, monotonous affairs that barely deserve to be called cake. Swedish wedding cakes completely defy this stereotype!
The granddaddy of all Swedish wedding cakes is the krokan, and “boring” is the last word you could ever use to describe it. These tiered towers of almond pastries baked with almond flour and decorated with marzipan roses look stunning and taste even better. The almond cakes are stacked on top of each other, sometimes in rings and sometimes in mind-blowingly intricate patterns. The different almond cakes are typically connected with caramel and filled with cream, chocolate, or jam.
Think of a Gothic cathedral made of the most delicious cake you’ve ever had and you’ll start to get the idea!
When it comes to traditional Swedish wedding cakes, krokan are a true institution. In fact, when the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf got married back in 1976, there was only one type of wedding cake that was worthy of being served at the celebration — a traditional Swedish krokan!
But honestly, I haven’t seen it in ages.
What Is The Traditional Swedish Wedding Gift?
There aren’t many rules about what gifts you should bring to a Swedish wedding. It’s common to give money toward the couple’s honeymoon trip or something personal. And if you’re in doubt, the couple usually includes what they prefer in the wedding invitation!
A (old) traditional superstition is that on the morning of a Swedish wedding, the bride would receive a gold coin from her mother (placed in her right shoe) and a silver coin from her father (placed in her left shoe) which she’d wear throughout the wedding day. This was a good luck superstition to ensure their daughter would never go without money in her married life.
Let The Party Begin!
If you’re planning a wedding of your own in Sweden, then let’s get in touch! I can’t wait to meet you and start planning the Swedish wedding of your dreams, filled with many beautiful traditions and some thrilling new experiences all your own. Reach out any time and we can get this party started!
Dance all night long? Yes please!