Jumping the Broom: Wedding Traditions Around the World

The dance floor was hopping, and my boyfriend and I were feeling the groove. Cassie-my best friend from high school-was getting married, and she had instructed the deejay to spin all the '80s favorites that ushered us through those awkward years. A perpetual wallflower in high school, I had never danced to the Pet Shop Boys, Run DMC, the Cure, or Van Halen. Well, at least not in public. And so it was that, nearly a decade after graduation, I finally was having my chance to shake it in on the dance floor.

It was one of those great life moments, where nothing matters but the present. That is, until the lights dimmed, and the inevitable strains of "Lady in Red" began In an instant, every dancer disappeared, and it was just me, perplexed at how quickly Eric Clapton can clear a room.

Then I saw Cassie, waiting, and I watched as her father embraced her, spun her around the room a couple times, and jammed a $100 bill into a sash along the bodice of her wedding dress. This was my first encounter with the Money Dance, and it explained why the masses had made a beeline for the bar. Gradually, various leading men in Cassie's life took a turn with her across the floor and, in parting, attached cash onto her person. The whole ritual seemed unreal and tawdry, and I was sure Cassie had contrived it to pay the honeymoon bill.

I was wrong. The Money Dance, or Dollar Dance, is originally a Polish tradition. I should point out, though, that Cassie's ancestors never set foot in Poland, whereas the paternal side of my family comes from the Polish/Russian border and has never heard of nuptial dancing for cash.
They are well-versed in Jewish customs, though, such as the huppah wedding canopy and the smashing of the wine glass. And, though they are far from Orthodox, they have been known to hoist a bride and groom up into chairs for a dance, a nod to the Talmudic belief that guests must make the wedding couple joyful after the ceremony.