Native Wedding Traditions

While a large number of Native couples have adopted traditional church weddings, many Native Americans desire their weddings to reflect their Native heritage and do research with the help of a Native wedding planner to incorporate their tribal practices. Here are just a few:

A custom among the Northern Californian Native Americans (Klamath, the Modoc and the Yurok), which is unique to them, is what they call a half-marriage and full-marriage. In a full-marriage, two kinsmen represent the future bridegroom. After agreeing on a bridal price, the bridegroom—usually with his father’s help—would pa...