"I learned a lot while in Ireland (and France, Belgium) about romance and relationships, and you can read all about my adventures elsewhere (see: What Does Shifting Mean in Irish Slang, and Dating in Ireland).First, I had to come up with a way to describe what I do for a living.The Swiss bride in the traditional wedding Switzerland wears a traditional crown or wreath on her head that represents her maidenhood and youth.
Any Western European wedding will have something old, something new, something blue and something borrowed.Blue symbolizes purity and the couple tries to incorporate the color in their wedding Switzerland outfit.All these Western European marriage traditions form an integral part of the Swiss marriage traditions.One of my biggest takeaways while exploring Western Europe for six months was a conversation I had with an Austrian couple. What struck me the most was that there isn't a word in many languages for what North Americans call "dating", and that, in fact, few cultures around the world actually "date". And how to other people get to know one another before committing, having casual sex, or something else?Within a few minutes of meeting in an Irish pub, the lady of the couple asked, "So, is dating a construct of Hollywood? These were the most pressing questions my friends back home wanted to know, so I went out in discovery of answers.