10 Popular Filipino Wedding Traditions

September 17, 2021

10 Popular Filipino Wedding
Traditions
Filipino weddings are always special. We give much regard
to weddings that each celebration never fails to become
momentous and memorable.
Since it only (and usually) happens once in a lifetime,
Filipinos tend to go all out on weddings. Everyone in the
family and the community are usually involved in the
preparation especially in far-flung provinces and barrios.
Over the years, us Filipinos have created a tradition and
culture that separates us apart from our neighboring
Southeast Asian countries.

Here are some of the popular wedding traditions that you

should not miss on your own wedding.

Pamamanhikan
Respect is highly emphasized in the Filipino culture and
Pamamanhikan is the groom and bride's way of honoring
their parents.

During the Pamamanhikan, the family of the groom visits the

house of the bride. The groom usually brings Filipino dishes
and delicacies. The two parties meet during this occasion
and have a chance to plan the upcoming wedding.
This is also the groom and bride's way of asking their
parents to bless their upcoming marriage.

Despedida De Soltera
Despedida de Soltera is a Spanish phrase that literally
translates to 'farewell to singlehood'. This is also known as a
bridal shower for the bride or bachelor / stag party for the
groom.

The bridal shower is usually prepared by the friends of the

bride days before the wedding. Aside from delicious food,
guests also play fun adult games during a bridal shower.
This is mostly exclusive for the ladies.

Meanwhile, the stag / bachelor party is an all-male party

planned by the best man. This is where the friends of the
groom celebrate his "last day of freedom" or "last day of
being single" thus signifying that a lot of things will change
for the man after marriage.

Sabitan / Sayawan
Sabitan or Sayawan is also known as the money dance.
During the wedding reception, the newlyweds perform a
ceremonial first dance to the tune of mellow music or love
song or their theme song as a couple. While they are
dancing, guests pin paper bills on their clothes.
In some provinces, the Sabitan or Sayawan takes place the
eve of the wedding day. The event is being hosted. This is
where the host usually calls the attention of the relatives and
principal sponsors.
The Sabitan or Sayawan is a way of giving financial help to
the newlyweds to help them in building their household.
Throwing Of Rice Grains
After the ceremony, the groom and bride would walk off the
aisle together as they exit the church. During this time, the
guests would gather at the exit while holding bigas or rice
grains which they would throw or shower to the newlyweds.
According to popular Filipino superstition, this is a way of
giving and wishing luck to the newlyweds. This is also a way
to shower the couple with well wishes of happiness and
prosperity all the days of their lives as husband and wife.
Others, especially the elderly, say that throwing of rice grains
to the groom and bride would make both fertile and
abundant in order for them to have children in the future.

White Wedding Dress

Filipino brides usually wear a white wedding dress with a
veil. It is not worn not just because it is beautiful but because
it bears another symbolic meaning as well.
The white wedding dress and veil represents the woman's
purity. Even more conservative Filipinos relate the white
wedding dress to virginity.

Barong Tagalog
Traditional and some modern Filipino weddings are
opportunities to don the national male dress which is
the barong tagalog.
It is usually a see-through dress shirt worn by males over a
plain white shirt or kamisa de chino. The barong tagalog is
made of piña fiber or thread made from the pineapple.
Aras
Aras is also known as arrhae. It is a light wedding ornament
that has 13 coins inside. This is what the coin bearer is
holding while marching towards the altar.

During the wedding ceremony, the priest or the officiating

minister would ask the groom to put the aras or arrhae on
the hands of the bride. This gesture symbolizes prosperity
and wealth of the couple as husband and wife.
The 13 coins actually represents prosperity in the lives of the
couples for each month of the year while the extra coin is for
the additional blessings for the rest of their lives.

Veil
A white veil is pinned to the groom and bride in traditional
Filipino weddings. The veil is pinned over the shoulder of the
groom and over the head of the bride. It is done in this way
as it represents the authority of the man over the household
with the help of his wife.

The veil also represents the unity of the groom and bride,
thus two become one.
Cord or Rope
The cord or rope usually donned over the groom and bride.
It is fashioned in the shape of number 8 to represent an
infinity sign. The infinity sign is a popular symbol for
everlasting love.

Big Receptions
Filipino weddings are not that different from town fiestas
when it comes to manner of celebration.

Weddings in the Philippines are opportunities for the

neighborhood to employ bayanihan or pagtutulong-tulongan.
It is an opportunity to help the families of the couple who
will get married.
The preparation for the wedding reception is where the
whole neighborhood actually gets busy. Some people offer
to help designing the wedding reception venue, while others
offer to cook the dishes, while others even offer to help
clean up after the wedding.
Wedding receptions in the Philippines are usually fun and
enjoyable as it reflects the unity of the Filipino community.

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Formal Introductions and Negotiations

Known in Tagalog as pamamanhikan, this acts as the first official step in a Filipino
wedding. It could take place months or weeks before the ceremony, and involves
the couple's families meeting each other for an official proposal—though the
specifics behind this custom can vary based on the couple's region of origin. For
instance, some share sugarcane wine and play drinking games, some exchange symbolic
items and present the bride’s parents with a dowry, while some share a small feast
together and discuss wedding plans. What's more, Ronna Capili-Bonifacio, editor-in-
chief of inspirations.ph, notes that “recent years have seen us doing these traditions in
restaurants or public spaces to minimize the preparations for both families.”
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Wedding Announcements
This tradition involves the couple visiting the homes of invitees to personally make
their wedding announcements and hand out official invitations. It's also usually
when the couple asks elders and prominent figures of their community to be wedding
godparents or sponsors, presenting them with small gifts and refreshments.
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Making Arrangements
The Bulungan, which translates to “whispering," takes place in the bride’s house and
involves the bride and groom’s families (usually their elders) huddling together to
quietly make plans, budget allocations, and task divisions for the upcoming wedding.
The arrangements are all conducted with everyone whispering, so as to not attract bad
spirits and misfortune.
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Wedding Preparations
The wedding preparations take place a day before the big day and are centered around
the Filipino concept of bayanihan, which involves performing small, heroic acts for the
good of the community. Members of the family and community chip in with preparing
the reception area, cooking the wedding dishes, and clearing the route for the wedding
retinue.
Regarding the specifics of the custom, details vary by region, religion, and ethnic group.
Some people prepare a special sticky rice cake using specific wooden spoons and
placements, others hold traditional spiritual ceremonies, while more metropolitan
weddings simply host something akin to a rehearsal dinner where attendees get to
know each other.
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Parental Blessings
PHOTO BY POT TOMAS PHOTOGRAPHY
During the ceremony, the couple asks for blessings from their parents by either kissing
their hands or touching the back of their parents' hands to their own foreheads. And
depending on the religion, the parents will utter phrases in return. In Filipino-Muslim
weddings, the groom kisses his father-in-law’s hand.
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Veil and Cord
PHOTO BY POT TOMAS PHOTOGRAPHY
Godparents drape a ceremonial lace veil over the bride’s head and the groom’s shoulder
to symbolize being clothed as one. A ceremonial cord, called a yugal, is then wrapped
around the couple in a figure-eight pattern, which symbolizes an eternal bond of fidelity.
The yugal is often a silken cord that is personally woven by the mother of the bride, or
an oversized rosary if the ceremony is Catholic.
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The 13 Coins
The groom gives 13 coins called the Arrhae to his partner as a promise of prosperity.
Depending on the region, the coins are either tucked into a handkerchief, handed over
individually by the wedding sponsors and godparents, or trickled from the groom’s
hands into his partner's cupped palms. The coin ceremony is a practice inherited from
Spain and is common in both Catholic and Hispanic wedding ceremonies around the
world.
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Lighting of the Unity Candle
PHOTO BY POT TOMAS PHOTOGRAPHY
For this custom, two wedding sponsors light a pair of candles located on each side of the
couple. The betrothed then takes each candle and lights a unity candle together,
signifying their union, as well as the union of their families.
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A Shower of Rice
As a symbol of bounty and rain, commonly read as a sign of good blessings, grains of
rice are thrown over newlyweds as they exit from the church. In some regions, the
newlyweds go through another rice shower upon entering the threshold of their new
home or the reception venue.

This tradition has significant meaning as rice is one of the foremost crop staples in the
Philippines and holds a sacred status. Specifically, weddings in ancient times were
officiated by priestesses holding the couples’ joined hands over a mound of rice grains,
which was later cooked and eaten by the newlyweds as their first shared meal.

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Rice Cakes
PHOTO BY POT TOMAS PHOTOGRAPHY
The newlyweds are served a small plate of kalamay, or sticky rice cakes, to symbolize
"sticking together" through their married life. Next, they are then given a pile of rice
cakes wrapped in palm leaves and seated at a table where a chosen bidder—usually a
favorite aunt or friend—bids off the rice cakes to guests. Godparents, sponsors, and
guests drop money into a bowl on the table as the bidder playfully rallies them into
giving more money, while the newlyweds give away packs of wrapped rice cakes in
return.
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Money Dance

PHOTO BY NHI LE
A tradition within many cultures, at Filipino weddings, the couple’s first dance is usually
the money dance. Guests will typically attach money to the newlyweds’ clothes using
tape, pins, red envelopes (in the case of Filipino-Chinese families), or little purses. This
is considered a way to help the newlyweds get started financially.
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Sharing of Food
While wedding cakes are a Western touch, Filipino couples will sometimes share their
first slice with their parents and elders. In some regions, little portions of the wedding
dishes are offered to deceased relatives in a solemn ceremony that occurs immediately
after the wedding feast, or the day after the wedding itself.
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Wedding Performances
PHOTO BY ERICA SWANTEK PHOTOGRAPHY
In some Filipino weddings, the newlyweds perform traditional dances for their guests.
Examples include the Pangalay, a colorful and elaborate dance performed in some
Filipino-Muslim weddings, and the Salidsid (pictured), a playful courtship dance by the
Kalinga people of the Northern Philippines.