Activities:
Italian brides and grooms made their way to the chapel on foot. In some regions, it was considered bad luck for the groom to turn around once he stepped foot outside his house on his wedding day (no backing out now!). Just in case, he'd be accompanied to the ceremony by a group of friends who would run back for him if he'd forgotten something. After the wedding ceremony, the couple would shatter a vase -- doing their best to pulverize it, since the number of broken pieces represented the number of years they'd be happily married. Villagers might also set up a log for the newlyweds to saw through with a double-handed saw -- representing how they would work together in their new partnership.