Czech Wedding Traditions for a Prague Wedding: Meaning and How-To

This guide is for couples from abroad who are marrying in Prague and want to include a few Czech wedding customs. It explains what each tradition means, when it happens during the day, and how to run it smoothly when half your guests have never seen it before.

Krótka odpowiedź

• The customs most couples keep are easy to stage at any Prague venue: breaking a plate and sweeping up the pieces together, sharing one bowl of soup with one spoon, and small wedding pastries (svatební koláčky) for guests.
• Most of them happen at the reception, so the venue manager or caterer does the practical work. Tell them in advance; many Czech venues stage the plate and the soup routinely.
• Check the venue rules before planning a rice exit. Some Prague venues forbid throwing rice or confetti, the Vrtba Garden among them.
• The rougher games (the bride “kidnapping”, the horse collar on the groom) work at a village wedding with a Czech crowd. With international guests in central Prague, adapt them or leave them out.
• Explain each custom to guests in one or two lines, on a printed card or through your host, so nobody is left wondering why a plate just smashed on the floor.

Czech wedding traditions at a glance

Before the ceremony

Svatební koláčky: the wedding pastries

Small round pastries with a filling are part of almost every Czech wedding. The classic fillings are curd cheese (tvaroh), poppy seed (mák), plum jam (povidla) and walnut. Traditionally the couple hands them out with the wedding announcement, they appear on the tables throughout the day, and guests take a few home in a small box at the end. Tradition also says the bride should not bake them herself: that job belongs to mothers, grandmothers, aunts and friends.

For a destination wedding the practical version is simple: order them from a Prague bakery or cake maker together with your cake, put a plate on each table for the welcome drink, and give each guest a small box as a thank-you. They travel well, so they also work as a gift for guests flying home. You can find bakers in our wedding cake directory.

The myrtle sprig for every guest

At a Czech wedding every guest wears a small sprig of myrtle (or another green sprig) with a white ribbon bow, pinned on when they arrive for the ceremony. At many weddings abroad only the wedding party wears a buttonhole; in Czechia everyone does. It is one of the easiest traditions to borrow. Ask your florist to make the sprigs, or buy the ribbon bows, which are sold ready-made with a pin, and have a bridesmaid or witness pin them on at the entrance. It also helps venue staff and photographers see who belongs to your party in a busy place such as the Old Town Hall.

Blocking the road: the ransom

Friends block the couple’s route to the ceremony with an obstacle, often a rope or ribbon stretched across the path with objects hanging from it. In some regions this is called “pulling”. The groom has to pay a ransom, usually a bottle and a few coins, or complete a silly task before they let him through.

In Prague, think twice. City-centre ceremonies run on tight time slots, and you cannot block a public street. If you want it, stage it on private ground where you control the time: the driveway of a chateau venue, the courtyard of your hotel or the garden gate of a country venue. Give it five minutes in the timeline.

At the ceremony

Petals and rice

Young bridesmaids scatter petals along the aisle as the bride walks in, a symbol of fertility. After the ceremony, guests form a guard of honour and throw rice at the couple for fertility and prosperity. Where rice is not allowed, couples use petals or soap bubbles.

This is the one tradition where venue rules matter most. The Vrtba Garden, for example, forbids throwing rice or confetti in the garden and the palace courtyards, and other historic venues have similar rules. Ask every venue in writing what may be thrown, where, and who cleans up. If the answer is no, a petal or bubble exit outside the gate usually works, and it photographs well. For the order of a ceremony day at the main civil venue, see our Old Town Hall day plan.

At the reception

Breaking a plate and sweeping up together

As the couple arrives at the reception, the venue manager drops a plate, often hidden under a tray. The couple then sweeps up the pieces together. It stands for teamwork in the new household and is supposed to bring luck; the crash is said to scare off evil spirits, and some say the number of pieces predicts the number of children. The couple keeps one shard for luck.

How to make it work:

• Tell the venue in advance that you want it. Many Czech restaurants and venues have done it many times and will have a plate, a broom and a dustpan ready.
• Use a porcelain plate, not glass.
• Do it at the entrance, before guests are seated, and have one person announce what is about to happen.
• Agree who takes the broom away afterwards and that staff check the floor for splinters, especially if children are there.

Shared soup with one spoon

The first course is soup, and the couple eats it from one bowl with one spoon, feeding each other. Sometimes the spoon has holes in it, which makes the job slower and more comic. The meaning: you will look after each other, also when things are hard. In some versions the couple wears one shared bib or is tied together with a white tablecloth. The traditional wedding soup is a clear beef broth with liver dumplings.

Tell the kitchen how many guests will have soup and whether you want a vegetable broth instead. For the couple’s bowl, ask for a smaller portion, served slightly cooler, and a cloth napkin you do not mind staining. Have the photographer ready: this is usually one of the best laughs of the day.

The toasts

Traditionally the bride’s father opens the dinner with a toast, followed by the groom’s father and sometimes a witness. With international families, keep each toast short, and either give it in two languages or let a bilingual friend translate one line at a time. If you serve a sparkling wine for the toast, order it with the dinner rather than as a separate bar item.

Cake, first dance and the parents’ dance

The couple cuts the cake together with one knife and shares the first slice. They open the dancing while guests stand in a circle; the waltz used to be standard but most couples now choose their own song. Then each dances with the new parents-in-law, then with their own parents. Guests from most countries recognise this sequence, so it needs no explanation.

In the evening

Čepení: from bride to married woman

Late in the evening, the married women at the wedding take off the bride’s veil or green wreath, which stood for her maidenhood, and put a married woman’s cap or headscarf on her. It is often done with singing and candles, and it is one of the more emotional moments of a traditional Czech wedding. Today many brides simply change from a veil into a hair accessory.

It works well at a small wedding if the mothers and other married women know what to do. Give one of them the job of leading it, and ask your band or DJ to stop the music for a few minutes.

Wedding games

• The shoe game: the couple sits back to back, each holding one of their own shoes and one of the partner’s, and lifts the shoe that answers the question (“Who is the better cook?”). It needs no language beyond the questions, so it works with any crowd.
• The wedding raffle (tombola): guests buy tickets, and the money goes to the couple. Prizes are small gifts with funny names. It is popular at Czech weddings; some guests from abroad are unsure about paying at a wedding, so explain it before you do it.
• Dancing with the bride: guests pay a small amount for a short dance with the bride. Same advice as the raffle.
• Find your groom: the blindfolded bride dances with several men and has to recognise the groom.
• The horse collar: the groom’s friends put a horse collar around his neck, sometimes with a ball and chain on his leg, a joke that marriage is not always easy. The bride saws him free or he pays his way out. Fun with the right group; check that the groom is happy with it.

Kidnapping the bride

The groom’s friends “kidnap” the bride, usually to a nearby pub, and the groom has to find her and pay his friends’ bill to get her back. Even in Czechia this one is often banned by the couple, because it can get out of hand. At a Prague wedding with international guests, the bride ends up in an unfamiliar pub in a foreign city, the evening schedule falls apart, and the venue may charge for overtime. Most couples skip it or replace it with a short, staged version inside the venue.

Carrying the bride over the threshold

The groom carries the bride over the threshold of their new home, an old way of fooling the evil spirits said to live under it. At a destination wedding the “new home” is usually the hotel suite. It needs no planning, and your photographer can follow you up if you want the moment recorded.

How to explain the traditions to international guests

• A one-page card on each table or in the welcome bag: name of the custom, one line on what it means, and when it happens.
• A host or master of ceremonies who announces each moment in both languages. Many Czech weddings have a host (moderátor) for the evening; a bilingual witness can do the same job.
• Brief the venue in writing: plate, broom, soup for the couple, timing of the first dance and the čepení. Venue managers are used to these requests and plan staff around them.
• Keep it to three or four customs. A guest who sees a plate broken, a shared soup and a first dance with the parents has had a Czech wedding. Ten customs in one evening turns a dinner into a programme.

Checklist: what to tell your venue and vendors

• Venue: which items may be thrown, where, and who cleans up.
• Venue manager: plate breaking at the entrance, porcelain plate, broom and dustpan ready.
• Kitchen: one bowl and one spoon for the couple, vegetable broth for vegetarians.
• Florist: myrtle sprigs with ribbons for all guests.
• Cake maker or bakery: koláčky for the tables and take-home boxes. Our Prague wedding cost guide has typical cake prices.
• Band or DJ: first dance, parents’ dances and a quiet moment for the čepení.
• Photographer: a list of the customs and their times, so nobody is at the bar when the plate breaks.

Plan your Prague wedding with Czech touches

We help couples choose the customs that fit their guests and brief the venue, caterer and musicians so they happen on time. Tell us about your wedding in the planner and we will suggest what works at your venue.

Źródła

• CzechTourism (VisitCzechia): Czech wedding traditions
• Czech Wikipedia: Svatba (customs section: plate, soup, kidnapping, koláčky)
• Forbes Czech: svatební koláčky, fillings and customs
• Vrtba Garden: wedding rules

Checked against these sources in November 2026. Customs vary by region and family; venue rules change, so confirm them with your venue before the day.