The Greeks break plates. The Polish break glass. Every couple follows different traditions to ensure the luck and longevity of their union. I haven’t been to many weddings, but two I attended seem to be setting a new trend. Whether or not this will catch on is hard to say, but this method better do the trick because it asks a lot of one lucky wedding guest.

I attended a wedding last summer in which the mother of a bride ended up with two broken fingers at the end of the evening. The wedding was great and the couple is still together and happily married almost a year later! We know how much that means in today’s society of 15 minute marriages. While the mother may end up with some early arthritis in those fingers, she really stepped up to make sure her daughter has a long and happy marriage.

I was the lucky guest at the second wedding. My only problem is, I am not sure if it is broken. The wound is just to my distal phalanx (I don’t care what you say, I don’t watch too much Bones) and not the whole finger. Is this enough to ensure the happiness of these newlyweds? If it is not really broken, is it all in vain?

I say we go back to breaking things that symbolize something good but that are not parts of the human body. Or maybe the new tradition could be putting all of the broken plates and glasses back together since a marriage is about making two halves into a whole.