For some, it is an integral part of the festivities, while others encourage wedding guests to leave the rice in the pantry. Krnov also decided to ban this popular pastime, especially among mischievous friends who like to shower the newlyweds with fistfuls of rice as they leave the ceremony. “It is mainly for safety reasons, as it is easy to slip on rice, which has already happened here in the past. And then also for the cleaning,” town hall spokeswoman Dita Círová justified the move to the representatives. In the Krnov hall, there are usually several ceremonies per day. “And the wedding right after. It would not be fair for the participants of the first ceremony to have carefully cleaned spaces and the wedding guests from the following wedding have to wade through rice or confetti,” the spokeswoman said.
And not only those who participated in the weddings complained about the rice. “Ceremonies are also held on weekdays at different times, and the clients of the office itself would also encounter disorder.” she shared. Wedding participants have already come up with an innovation: they blow bubbles from bubble blowers at the newlyweds. Would they also sin against the new decree? “This would not be a problem,” added the spokeswoman.
You know that…
…is rice thrown at newlyweds because it is a symbol of prosperity, abundance, fertility and happiness?
15 years of pleading
“For 15 years, we have been asking for wedding guests not to throw rice at the newlyweds in the premises of the office and also in front of the entrance to the town hall,” said spokeswoman Dita Círová. However, the wedding party did not heed the authority’s call, which is why the representatives have now proceeded with an official ban. The official places where it is given and where the ban applies are the town hall, the concert hall and the garden of Flemmich’s villa.
Ouch, that hurts!
Throwing rice when leaving the church or ceremony hall is a very unpleasant matter for the bride and groom. Wedding guests throw rice directly at the newlyweds, and when there is a lot of rice, it really hurts. The grains are then found everywhere for days to come.
Pre-Christian custom
It is a custom from pre-Christian times. Back then, friends would sprinkle the newlyweds in front of their house with life-giving seeds, peas, lentils, beans, grains or nuts as an offering to propitiate the gods of the house and the hearth. The sacrifice was to reconcile the spirits with the newly founded family. The groom carried the bride over the threshold of the house also for protection from evil spirits.