Native American Wedding Rituals & Traditions for Your Big Day

Celebrate the Start of Your Marriage with Timeless Native American Wedding Rituals & Wedding Ceremony Traditions

 

Personalize your wedding day with meaningful Native American wedding rituals and traditions for a timeless celebration of love, family, and community.

Native American wedding traditions are beautifully diverse, with each community bringing unique spiritual practices, songs, dances, dress, and culinary delights to the wedding day. Thanks to vibrant oral traditions, these wedding rituals have been shared across tribes and over generations to help you create an authentic modern or traditional ceremony. 

As you dream about your perfect wedding day, consider the traditions below. Plan a mostly traditional Native American wedding ceremony, or incorporate popular Western wedding traditions and creative interfaith or intercultural traditions for a modern celebration that’s truly one of a kind. Give these rituals a personal touch by adding details about your love story to your wedding ceremony script, add a special reading or moment of mindfulness, or include meaningful music, chants, or prayer. 

And remember: there’s no one way to celebrate your marriage – and certainly no wrong way!

 

 

Decorate with sunflowers as a symbol of happiness and abundance in marriage. (Photo: vladans / iStock)

 

 

Native American Wedding Ceremony Traditions & Rituals

 

1. Participation of Elders

 

Include beloved elders in your celebration with special readings, prayers, and the gift of wise advice. Parents, grandparents, and community elders are an important part of traditional Native American wedding celebrations. As the keepers of cultural and spiritual wisdom, they play special roles that go beyond walking a bride down the aisle or posing for family photos. Consider these two meaningful examples for your own wedding: 

 

• Choosing the Four Elders (Ojibwe / Chippewa Wedding Custom)

 

Before the wedding day, choose four sponsors (four elders) to give you and your partner advice and insights throughout your marriage. This group of elders will be a source of continuing support in your new marriage – helping you resolve disagreements, improve and strengthen your relationship, and plan for the future. (1)

 

• Post-Ceremony Advice From Elders (Diné / Navajo Wedding Custom)

 

After your wedding ceremony, ask family members and friends to gather around to give you advice for a happy and lasting marriage – especially your elders, who have so much wisdom to share! During this Navajo wedding tradition, loved ones talk one at a time, giving their best advice on marriage, creating harmony in relationships, and raising a family. (2)

 

Related: Our Favorite Ways to Include Moms and Matriarchs in a Wedding Ceremony

 

 

Weddings are about community! Ask loved ones for marriage advice, or find creative ways to involve them in your wedding ceremony. (Photo: grandriver / iStock)

 

 

2. Wedding Day Water Rituals

 

Add a traditional twist to your wedding ceremony with a spiritual Native American water ritual. Water is a sacred element and has been incorporated into many Native American marriage ceremonies. In Native American weddings, water is a symbol of life, of the blessings of Mother Earth, and of purity and new beginnings. Here are two unique examples of water rituals to help inspire you:

 

• Ceremonial Swim (Ojibwe / Chippewa Wedding Custom)

 

On the morning of your wedding day, swim outdoors in open water to receive a blessing from Mother Earth. This traditional Ojibwe wedding custom helps a bride prepare for marriage, washing away the past as she steps into the next chapter of life. (1)

 

You can swim in a lake, river, or any open water you feel connected to in the hours before your ceremony begins. Invite close friends and family members to join you, or enjoy some quiet time alone in nature as a chance to reflect on the meaning of the day as you deepen your spiritual connection to the world around you.

 

• Symbolic Hand-washing (Diné / Navajo Wedding Custom)

 

During this traditional Navajo wedding ceremony, you and your partner will symbolically wash each other's hands with water poured from a decorative pot with a hand-carved gourd dipper. This ritual symbolizes purity and new beginnings in marriage, as you wash away any negative experiences of the past, and commit to a new life together. (This ceremonial act is followed by the corn mush ritual, described in more detail below.) (2)

 

To perform this ritual in a more traditional way, brides sit facing east on the south side of the hogan (ceremonial house), and grooms sit to the left on the north side. The medicine man (or wedding officiant) sits in front of the bride to lead the ritual. (3)

 

Related: Spiritual Bathing - Performing Ritual Baths for Yourself & Others

 

(Photo: nambitomo / iStock)

 

 

3. Multi-Day Wedding Celebrations

 

Celebrate over a long weekend to make your wedding more traditional! American Indian weddings are known for full guest lists, delicious home-cooked meals, and days of joyful conversation and celebration. Feel free to take your time, and soak up every moment of love and community. 

 

For instance, traditional Chippewa weddings last for 3 days, with each day representing something special: feasting, visiting, and the “giveaway” (when the bride is ‘given away’ to the groom during the ceremony). These multi day celebrations give the entire community a chance to come together and celebrate the happy couple, deepening their connections. (1)

 

4. Outdoor Weddings & Natural Elements

 

Honor your connection and reverence for nature in your wedding ceremony. Native American wedding customs reflect an interconnectedness with the natural world, often honoring pantheistic and animistic deities like Great Spirit or Creator, Mother Earth, the Gaan (Mountain Spirits), and the Sun Bearer in symbolic ways. You might plan an outdoor wedding ceremony, where you can be closest to nature. Or include natural elements in your ceremony and decor: earth, air, fire, water, wood, flowers and herbs, and stone. Interfaith weddings can also incorporate these natural elements, honoring both ancient beliefs and modern or blended faiths.

 

Here are a just few ways that natural elements are included in Native American weddings: 

 

• Sunflowers: Symbolizing happiness and abundance. (4) Sunflowers might be placed in bouquets or boutonnieres, arranged as table settings, added to wedding arches, etc. 

 

• Ears of Corn: Symbolizing renewal and prosperity. (4) Ears of corn may be given as symbolic gifts between newlyweds, used as decor, or included in the wedding basket ritual. 

 

• Cattail Pollen: Blessing of protection, peace, prosperity and joy. (4,5) Cattail pollen can be sprinkled during a blessing ceremony. 

 

• Herbs and Plants: Various meanings and uses. Sage, sweetgrass, cedar, and tobacco might be burned during smudges and blessing rituals. 

 

• Woven Cedar Headbands: Symbolizing the couple’s thoughts moving forward as one in marriage. (6) Cedar headbands are worn by the couple during the wedding ceremony. 

 

• Time of Day: Time of day is an important part of the wedding ceremony. Traditional Navajo weddings are held at sundown (3), while traditional Hopi weddings are held in the very early morning, right before dawn. (10)

 

 

Smudge sticks used in prayer rituals are often made of sage and sweetgrass. Sometimes cedar and other woods are burned in ceremony. (Photo: PamWalker68 / iStock)

 

5. Spiritual Leader as Wedding Officiant

 

Ask a spiritual elder, community leader, or a friend / family member with deep spiritual wisdom to perform your ceremony. Marriage is a spiritual bond, a union of cooperation, understanding, mutual respect, and harmony. An officiant who ‘gets you,’ who understands your values, can help you plan a ceremony that tells the story of what makes your relationship so special.

 

Related: 5 Great Reasons to Ask a Friend to Officiate Your Wedding

 

During traditional Ojibwe weddings, a spiritual elder called a ‘pipe carrier’ officiates, and presents the couple with a tobacco pipe as part of the wedding ritual. As the couple smokes, the tobacco smoke sends their love up to the Creator. (1) And in Navajo weddings, a family member or tribal leader usually officiates, as well as clergy members and Navajo Nation judges. (7) 

Become a minister today!

6. Wedding Attendants

 

Invite your closest friends and family members to be a part of your wedding party! Wedding attendants have been an important part of Native American wedding celebrations for a long time, so choose a matron of honor, best man, or best mate, and gather those bridesmaids and groomsmen! (Gender inclusive ‘person of honor’ or ‘honor attendants’ are also encouraged.) 

 

Your wedding party will help you get dressed, remind you to eat, prepare your wedding emergency kit, accompany you to the ceremony, and keep you calm and centered on the wedding day. 

 

How traditional you go is up to you: Grooms planning a Coast Salish (Tla’amin) wedding might choose eight groomsmen to stand beside them on the wedding day – eight is the traditional number of groomsmen. (6) Osage (Ni-u-kon-ska) brides might ask a matron of honor or bridesmaid to wear modern versions of traditional bridal regalia, or other colorful, contemporary styles and patterns that are popular today. In the past, Osage bridesmaids would carry the bride to the altar by lifting her up in a large sheet, but today your attends are more likely to lead you as you walk down the aisle at the start of the ceremony. (8) 

 

Related: Ask your Best Man to Serve as Backup Officiant to Ward off Wedding Day Disasters

 

 

A modern wedding blanket ceremony! Choose a beautiful blanket to keep as a momento of the day, and personalize one of the timeless traditions below. (Photo: Viktor / Adobe Stock)

 

 

7. Wedding Blanket Ceremony

 

Add a meaningful family unity ritual to your wedding with a wedding blanket ceremony. The Native American wedding blanket ceremony symbolizes two people and two families joining together as one in marriage. It’s one of the most beautiful and well-known indigenous unity rituals, and is very easy to personalize.

 

You can include parents, grandparents, or friends in this ritual to make it unique, or incorporate special readings, interfaith scripture, music, and blessings. The blanket itself will become a meaningful family heirloom and can be passed down for generations! This ritual has been practiced in different ways over the years. Here are a few examples to inspire you: 

 

• Cherokee Wedding Blanket Tradition

 

The Cherokee wedding blanket ceremony symbolizes a new beginning in the spiritual union of marriage, as a couple releases their past sorrows to embrace their shared future, guided by the blessings of family and friends.

 

To include this unity ritual in your own wedding, your mothers (or two beloved elders) will place two blue blankets on your shoulders as a symbol of your past sorrows. Your officiant will give you a blessing, and the blue blankets will be replaced with one large blanket (usually white), draped over your shoulders as a symbol of your love and unity. (12)

 

• Ojibwe Wedding Blanket Ceremony

 

The Ojibwe wedding blanket tradition symbolizes a new beginning in the spiritual union between newlyweds, and is very similar to a Cherokee wedding blanket ritual, with one important difference: In the Ojibwe tradition, a couple’s blue blankets may be burned in a ceremonial fire made of 7 types of wood to free the couple of past sorrows. 

 

To include this ritual in your wedding, your mothers (or two beloved elders) will place blue blankets on your shoulders as a symbol of your past sorrows. After receiving a blessing from the wedding officiant, you’ll toss these blankets into the fire circle to burn. Then, loved ones will drape a large white blanket over your shoulders as a symbol of your union and a new beginning. (1)

 

• Coast Salish Wedding Blanket Ceremony 

 

In a traditional Coast Salish wedding, blankets are included in a unique way: four blankets are layered on the ground to “represent the teachings of the Medicine Wheel: the four directions, as well as emotional, physical, mental, spiritual wellbeing and the four races of the world.” (6) The couple stands on the blankets during the marriage ceremony, grounded in tradition and faith. (6,9) 

 

Include this tradition in your own wedding by asking a few loved ones to arrange four blankets beside your wedding altar. Take your vows while standing on these blankets as you reflect on the joy you’ll cultivate in marriage. Your wedding officiant might explain the symbolism of these blankets during the ceremony for guests who aren’t familiar with the custom. Choose blankets in colorful patterns and meaningful designs, and keep them as family heirlooms to pass down for years to come.

 

• Navajo Wedding Blanket Ritual

 

Traditional Navajo weddings include blankets in a unique way – to disguise the bride from the jealous Sun god! In Navajo tradition, the Sun is jealous of humans and their happiness. Since weddings usually take place at sundown, brides cover their heads with a decorative blanket to stay hidden from the Sun on their way to the ceremony. To keep with this tradition, choose a colorful Pendelton blanket, which are commonly used in modern Navajo weddings. (3)

 

 

(Photo: Alene Pierro/ Adobe Stock)

 

 

8. Native American Wedding Vase

 

Give a unity toast to new beginnings in a traditional way! The Native American wedding vase ceremony honors the spiritual bond of marriage and two lives flowing together in harmony with a symbolically shaped vase. Each clay wedding vase has two spouts, symbolizing two lives, and a single handle, symbolizing their union. Some tribes, including the Navajo and Ute, use the vase as part of the ceremony (drinking from the vase), while others, such as the Hopi, see these vases as symbolic art and simply give them as a wedding gift. (10)

 

Differences in Native wedding vases add to their beauty – with variations in size, shape, color, design, and materials. For instance, a traditional Navajo wedding vase is created by placing horsehair on the clay pot, which burns off after firing to create a distinctive marbled pattern. Today, contemporary Native potters create many beautiful designs that incorporate unique tribal patterns, animal imagery, and inspiration from nature.

 

• Drinking From The Wedding Vase Ceremony 

 

To perform a wedding vase ceremony, fill the vase with water that’s been blessed by a spiritual elder or officiant. Taking turns, each of you will sip water from the vase (the first partner from one spout and the second partner from the other spout). This act represents two halves joining as a spiritual whole. 

 

9. Native American Wedding Basket

 

Include a symbolic Native American wedding basket in your ceremony! Like most Native American crafts, these artful pieces carry a deep meaning; their colors and patterns tell stories of perseverance and connection, and offer blessings of community and safety in marriage. Below are two unique examples of spiritual unity rituals involving wedding baskets.

 

• Navajo Wedding Basket 

 

A traditional Navajo wedding basket, also called a Navajo ceremonial basket, is used to hold ceremonial cornmeal mush during a unique unity ceremony honoring the couple’s journey through life and their new beginning in marriage. The wedding basket is made with three colors – black, red, and white – woven from thin strips of wood into a symbolic geometric pattern. 

 

During the unity ritual, each partner takes a bite of the ceremonial cornmeal mush (called taa'niil) and corn pollen from the bowl while receiving a blessing from the officiant. Some couples also share the cornmeal with guests as a symbol of the importance of community and family in their marriage. During the wedding ritual, the opening in the woven pattern (the Pathway) should always face up and out (to the east), as a symbolic outlet for a couple’s thoughts and dreams (11). 

 

What does the Navajo wedding basket represent?

 

There are a few different interpretations of the Navajo wedding basket’s distinctive woven design. One interpretation of this symbolic pattern reveals a map of life for the Navajo people, beginning with Creation and moving through pain and darkness toward marriage, family, and enlightenment in the spirit world. Another interpretation reveals the four sacred mountains (shown by the four white points at the center of the basket), blessings of health and spirituality brought by sunshine (shown by the red band), and darkness as a time for the restoration of body and mind (shown by the black points). Another interpretation reveals the basket as a symbol of harmony and balance between all beings, including the newlyweds. (11)

Navajo wedding baskets are woven with beautiful, intricate, symbolic designs in black, red, and white. (Photo via nhmu.utah.edu)

 

 

• Cherokee Wedding Basket

 

Wedding baskets filled with food are given in traditional Cherokee weddings as wedding gifts between partners, symbolizing the couple’s promise to take care of each other in marriage. These wedding baskets are exchanged during the Vow Exchange, after each partner reads their vows. Traditionally, a groom passes a basket of meat and skins to the bride as a symbol of his promise to provide for her in marriage. A bride passes the groom a basket of bread and corn, as a symbol of her promise to nurture him in marriage. (12) 

 

To perform the Cherokee wedding basket ritual in your own wedding: after you read your wedding vows, hand your partner the basket of food you’ve prepared. Like a wedding ring, this basket is a physical symbol of the vows you’ve made, representing the partner you promise to be in marriage. Feel free to make this ritual your own! Include friends or family members in the ritual (to serve as a ‘basket bearer’ who will hand you the basket during the ceremony), or add alternative delicious foods to the basket to reflect your unique relationship and vows.

 

 

10. Horses as a Wedding Gift or Marriage Proposal

 

Horses are one of the most traditional Native American wedding gifts exchanged between partners, but modern couples will likely exchange horse themed wedding gifts or include horse themed wedding decor to honor this ritual instead. Click the link below for inspiration: 

 

• 8 Equestrian Wedding Ideas for Horse Lovers

 

A look at the history of wedding horses: In the Osage and Blackfeet (Niitsitapi) tribes, men would give horses to the family of the woman he wanted to marry as a symbolic marriage proposal. If the woman accepted, she’d keep the horses and let them mix with her family’s herd. (13) Horses were also part of a traditional marriage proposal in Lakota and Dakota cultures, who view the horse as a relative – a gift from the Wakíŋyaŋ (Thunder Beings) and a connection the spirit world. The Lakota people didn’t have formal marriage ceremonies until after the introduction of Christianity, so horses were more than just a proposal, they were part of the ceremony; when a Lakota bride accepted the horses, the couple was considered married, and the agreement was followed by a large meal between families instead of a ceremony. This was true even for Lakota same-sex marriages, which have been accepted and embraced by the Sioux People for hundreds of years. (14)

 

 

11. Traditional Native American Wedding Reception

 

Bring your appetite, because good food, music, dancing, and community is a big part of all Native American wedding receptions! After the ceremony, gather with friends and family members for a long meal and many fun stories, followed by dancing, gift giving, live music, and plenty of laughter.

 

 

(Photo: Deniss / Pexels)

 

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More Native American Wedding Ideas & Inspiration: 

 

♦ Native American Wedding Vows & Readings

 

Discover modern & traditional Native American wedding ceremony readings & wedding vow examples. Read prayers & blessings from Navajo, Cherokee, Shoshone & others. Click the link above to get started!

 

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References for This Article

 

Reach out to tribal leaders, elders, and loved ones for more information and stories about traditional weddings and modern variations of the rituals and customs above. In the meantime, here are are a few sources we used when writing this article that might help you plan your celebration.

 

1. Harrington, Valerie (Dibikwe). (n.d.) Wiidigendiwin - Traditional Ojibwe Marriage.

 

2. Passey, Brian. Feb 23, 2017. New to Me: Experience a traditional Navajo wedding. 

 

3. Bazhnibah. Jul 26, 2021. Guest Column: A Diné wedding or not? Tradition wins. Navajo Times.

 

4. Briggs, Johnathon. Nov 3, 1996. Traditional Wedding Binds Apache to Past. Deseret News / The Arizona Republic.

 

5. Hampton, Patricia. Nov. 4, 2021. Commentary: Beauty, Balance and Harmony in Native American traditions. DLA.

 

6. Pallen (čɩnɛ), Cyndi; Tla’amin Nation. Traditional wedding joins Tla’amin couple in culture. Salish Sea Sentinel. 

 

7. Navajo Courts. Title 9 of the Navajo Nation Code Domestic Relations 

8. Swan, Daniel, PhD. (May 15, 2021). Wedding Clothes and the Osage Community: A Giving Heritage with Daniel Swan, PhD and Renee Harris (Osage) (Recorded Video Lecture facilitated by Amerind Museum).

 

9. Jones, Thomas (Sewit); Peter, Ruby (Sti’tum’at); Sam, Bernadette (Sti’tum’atulwut); Seymour, George (Squtulenuxw). (n.d.) Smulyitul: Revitalizing the Traditional Coast Salish Wedding. The Hul’q’umi’num’ Language and Culture Collective.

 

10. Hopi Wedding Vase. (n.d.) Timothy S. Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology / Wake Forest University.

 

11. Navajo Ceremonial Basket Interpretations. (n.d.) Clayton Long. Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah.

 

12. Kuhlman, Judy. (April 25, 1994). Cherokee Wedding Forms Sacred Bond for Couple. The Oklahoman. 

 

13. Lacey, Theresa Jensen. (1995; 2006). The Blackfeet. Chelsea House Publishers.

 

14. Chasing Hawk, Ernestine. (February 17, 2016). Was a wedding ceremony part of traditional Lakota culture? Native Sun News Today. 

 

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