Ceremonies

Holy communion and confirmation
It is absolutely incorrect to dress the person celebrated in elaborate or costly clothes and it is certainly not the right occasion for excessively binding and striking gifts. It should be a simple feast where the gifts are unwrapped prior to the start of the party. The God Parents are usually chosen amongst the closest relatives and friends and whom the person celebrated finds the most pleasant. The God Parent, according to tradition, gives the person celebrated a watch, pen or a good book.

High school graduation
The celebrations are normally held amongst family members, relatives and close friends. The family will issue the most important gift: such as, a trip abroad, jewellery, a bicycle or perhaps a stereo.

Wedding
Invitations and attendance notices. Apart from the classic type of invites, it has now become customary to attach a card containing the invitees name (without professional title) as well as the indications on how to reach the restaurant and the complete address. It is a good idea to request the confirmation of participation. It is now becoming more and more popular to hand print the invitation cards just as it was for the old tradition. The positive effect is always guaranteed!

Gifts
The gifts are sent to the bride as soon as the invitation is received. In order to avoid filling the house with useless objects, the custom of referring to a wedding gift list is becoming more and more popular these days. By doing so, there is no risk of giving unappreciated gifts. It is still allowed to give the newly weds money but this is, however, a rather inelegant type of gift.

The ceremony
The bride enters the church arm in arm and on the left hand side of her father whilst the groom awaits for her in his position. The bride may be followed by the page boy, flower girl and maids of honour. The parents of the bride sit on the left hand side of the church whilst the parents of the groom take the right hand side. The bride is allowed a slight touch of make-up as long as it is not too striking. The female guests should not wear white outfits: only the bride should wear this colour. Although not a good idea, the tradition of throwing rice at the newly weds as they exit the church still holds on.

The wedding lunch
There is no specific rule as to the positioning of the seating, it should simply be in accordance with good sense. Once the meal is over, the bride hands out the bonbonniers (together with an uneven number of confetti, 3-5 and a simple card with the name of the bride and groom). The horrible custom of cutting the grooms tie into small pieces and consequently distributing the pieces in return for money should be avoided. The cutting of the cake should be performed by the bride and groom together and, once preserved, the newly weds make their way to each guest in order to greet and thank them.

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