Wedding may be a universal celebration, but for some it’s an unbelievable crazy adventure. It can be gross, confusing or terrifying. Imagine shooting the bride or marrying a banana tree. How’s that for a wedding?

1. Blackening the Bride: Scotland

To celebrate the happiest day in a woman’s life, friends and relatives of the bride will show affection by putting every nasty things you can imagine like curdled milk, dead fish, spoiled food, tar, sauces, mud, flour, sausages into a bucket and throwing it over her. She is then tied to a tree and after taken for a night of drinking. The belief is that if you can handle this you can handle anything, including marriage. In short blackening the bride is to prepare her for any humiliation or problems she’ll come across during her marriage.

2. Preplanned Crying: China

For many brides, wedding day preparation can be emotionally draining, but brides and females of the Tujia people in China take matters to a whole new level. Starting one whole month in advance the bride starts to cry for 1 hour every day. Ten days into the ordeal the mom joins the picture, and then ten days after that, her grandmother. By the end of the month every female in the family is crying alongside the bride. This is thought to be an expression of joy as the women cry in different tones.

3. Marrying a Tree: India

In parts of India women born as Mangliks (an astrological combination when Mars and Saturn are both under the 7th house), are apparently “cursed” and thought to be likely to cause their husband an early death. In order ward of this curse, they must first be married to a tree and the tree cut down to break the curse. Poor Tree!!!