♥ Australian laws about relations between relations are obviously extremely strict, but also a little confusing! For a long time, the law has forbidden marriage between blood relatives, including full blood and half blood relatives. Confusingly though, in some areas marriage between cousins may be permitted!
♥ Decorative flowers are something of a feature of Australian weddings. Native flora such as wattle and bottle brush, bankias, eucalyptus and warratah are particularly popular in bouquets and decorations. In other areas, orchids take center-stage amongst the wedding flowers, for example in Queensland, where Cookstown Orchids are the state flower.
♥ One old Australian tradition was for the family’s bible to be handed down to newlyweds as a wedding gift, with each couple adding their own inscription and details before passing them on. Some families still have these family bibles within their families, and they make great heritage items for modern families.
♥ At an Aboriginal wedding feast, care would have been taken to serve food to the guests in order of their ranking in the tribe or community – similar to the Samonan custom which might still be seen there today. Like the Samoans, the Aboriginal newlyweds would also have given gifts to those attending their wedding, rather than receiving gifts themselves.