Armenia: Two white doves may be released to signify love and happiness. The bride may dress in red silk and may wear cardboard wings with feathers on her head. Small coins may be thrown at her.
Caribbean: A rich black cake baked with dried fruits and rum is especially popular on the islands of Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia. It is considered a“pound”cake — with the recipe calling for a pound each of flour, dark brown sugar, butter, glace cherries, raisins, prunes, currants, plus a dozen eggs and flavorings. The dried fruits are soaked in rum and kept in a crock anywhere from two weeks to six months.
Croatia: Married female relatives remove the bride’s veil and replace it with a kerchief and apron, symbols of her new married status. She is then serenaded by all the married women. Following the wedding ceremony, those assembled walk three times around the well (symbolizing the Holy Trinity) and throw apples into it (symbolizing fertility).
The Czech Republic: Friends would sneak into the bride’s yard to plant a tree, then decorate it with ribbons and painted eggshells. Legend said she would live as long as the tree. Brides in the countryside carry on the very old custom of wearing a wreath of rosemary, which symbolizes remembrance. The wreath is woven for each bride on her wedding eve by her friends as a wish for wisdom, love, and loyalty.
Egypt: Families, rather than grooms, propose to the bride. In Egypt, many marriages are arranged. The zaffa, or wedding march, is a musical procession of drums, bagpipes, horns, belly dancers, and men carrying flaming swords； it announces that the marriage is about to begin.
England: Traditionally, the village bride and her wedding party always walk together to the church. Leading the procession: a small girl strewing, blossoms along the road, so the bride’s path through life will always be happy and laden with flowers.
Finland: Brides wear golden crowns. After the wedding, unmarried women dance in a circle around the blindfolded bride, waiting for her to place her crown on someone’s head. It is thought that whoever she crowns will be the next to wed. The bride and groom have seats of honor at the reception. The bride holds a sieve covered with a silk shawl. when the guests slip money into the sieve, their names and the amounts given are announced to those assembled by a groomsman.
Greece: The koumbaros, traditionally the groom’s godfather, is an honored guest who participates in the wedding ceremony. Today, the koumbaros is very often the best man, who assists in the crowning of the couple (with white or gold crown, or with crowns made of everlasting flowers, or of twigs of love and vine wrapped in silver and gold paper), and in the circling of the altar three times. Other attendants may read Scripture, hold candles, pack the crowns in a special box after the ceremony. To be sure of a“sweet life”, a Greek bride may carry a lump of sugar in her glove on wedding day.
亚美尼亚：人们放飞两只白鸽，以示爱情和幸福。新娘穿着红色丝质服装，头戴饰有羽毛的纸翼。人们还可向新娘投掷硬币。
加勒比地区：在巴巴多斯，格林纳达和圣卢西亚，用干果和朗姆酒制作的味道浓郁的蛋糕十分常见。人们把这种蛋糕称为“一磅”蛋糕，因为制作这种蛋糕需要面粉、红糖、黄油、糖霜樱桃、葡萄干、李子、红醋栗各一磅，加上一打鸡蛋和调味品。制作蛋糕的干果要在朗姆酒中浸泡并在瓦罐中保存两个星期至6个月。
克罗地亚：由已婚的女性亲戚摘下新娘的面纱，换成一块头巾和一条围裙，意味着新娘的已婚身份。然后由所有的已婚妇女为新娘唱小夜曲。婚礼仪式结束之后，所有来宾围绕着井走三圈(象征着圣父、圣子、圣灵三位一体)，并向井中扔苹果(象征着生育)。
捷克共和国：朋友们溜进新娘的院子去种一棵树，然后再用彩带和彩绘的蛋壳将树加以装饰。传说新娘将与这棵树活得一样长。乡村的新娘还保留着佩带迷迭香花环的传统习俗，以表怀念之情。花环是在婚礼前夕由新娘的朋友编织而成，它象征着智慧、爱情和忠诚。
埃及：在埃及，由新郎的家人，而不是新郎本人，向新娘求婚。许多婚姻还是父母之命，媒妁之言。Zaffa，也就是婚礼，其实是一个有音乐伴奏的列队游行，有鼓、风笛、号角及肚皮舞，男人们手持火红的剑。这个仪式宣告婚姻即将开始。
英格兰：按照传统，乡村的新娘和参加婚礼的人们总是一起走向教堂。一个小姑娘走在队列的最前面，她一路抛撒鲜花，预示着新娘的一生幸福快乐，鲜花永伴。
芬兰：新娘头戴金色的花冠。婚礼后，未婚女子围着被蒙住眼睛的新娘跳舞，等着新娘将花冠戴到某个人的头上。被新娘戴上花冠的人被认为是下一个要结婚的人。新娘和新郎坐在婚宴的贵宾席上，新娘手持一个筛子，筛子上盖有一块丝绸披巾。当来宾们将钱塞进筛子时，一个伴郎会向在场的来宾宣布放钱的来宾姓名以及礼金的数额。
希腊：按照传统是由新郎的教父来担任婚礼的嘉宾。现在，嘉宾通常由伴郎担任，其职责是协助新郎新娘戴上花冠(花冠有白色和金色的，花冠由四季开放的鲜花，或由用金色或银色的纸包起来的象征爱情的树枝和藤编织而成)。戴上花冠后，新人们围着圣坛绕三圈。其他出席婚礼的宾客则手持蜡烛，朗读《圣经》，并在婚礼后将花冠放置在一个特殊的盒子里。为了婚后生活能甜蜜，希腊新娘在结婚那一天，可在手套里塞一块糖。
实战提升
Practising&Exercise
单词注释
signify [5si^nifai] v. 表示；表明
serenade [7seri5neid] n. 小夜曲；情歌
wisdom [5wizdEm] n. 智慧，才智，明智
procession [prE5seFEn] n. 一(长)列，一(长)排
everlasting [7evE5lB:stiN] adj. 永远的，永久的；不朽的
实用句型&词组
I didn’t notice Tom sneaking up behind me.（偷偷地走，溜）
The great hall was decorated with flowers.（装饰，修饰）
He rose to fetch a chair from the next room. ( 紧邻的，贴近的)
翻译行不行
人们放飞两只白鸽，以示爱情和幸福。
一个小姑娘走在队列的最前面，她一路抛撒鲜花，预示着新娘的一生幸福快乐，鲜花永伴。
为了婚后生活能甜蜜，希腊新娘在结婚那一天，可在手套里塞一块糖。
Britain’s Got Talent—Susan Beyle
我曾梦想：英国超女成功记
The Internet has not seen anything quite like Susan Boyle, whose online popularity is headed straight into the history books.
The video of Boyle’s performance on the reality show Britain’s Got Talent has set the record for the number of views in a week—and it shows no sign of slowing down.
