Weddings

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The Origins of Wedding Traditions

Weddings can be incredibly complicated events – guest lists, catering, planning. In the rush of it all, a bride is often at the mercy of friends, relatives, coordinators and etiquette books as to the "proper" traditions to have at her Big Event. And since a bride gets married only once – or twice – in her lifetime, she’s usually not the expert when it comes to all the traditions, customs, and trends in a wedding.

Most brides want their wedding to be recognizable as a wedding – complete with a dress that lets guests know she’s the bride, and a ceremony and traditions that make the whole day feel "official." For some women, this is easy. They decide to go "traditional all the way." For others, they would prefer to select only those traditions that add personal significance to the Big Event. Regardless, it’s interesting to discover the colorful origins of our modern day wedding customs.

Here’s a highlight of some wedding traditions.

Rings
The wedding ring probably originated from Egypt over four thousand years ago. To the Egyptians, the wedding ring circle symbolized eternity. While diamonds are by far the stone of choice in wedding and engagement rings today, their popularity and availability is relatively recent (about 100 years old). Engagement rings have long been used as a symbol of marital intent. In fact, some engagement rings were given at an infant girl’s birth to signify the promise of a future marriage. In times when marriages represented economic unions or exchange of ownership, the acceptance of an engagement ring was a contractually binding irreversible action! Rings are worn on the third finger of the left hand due to a mistaken notion that a vein ran directly from that finger to the heart. A ring on that finger would therefore be closest to the heart.

Dress & Veil
Bridal dresses have been worn in a rainbow of colors through the centuries. The tradition of a white dress (advertising virginity) has been en vogue for over 150 years. More common (and practical) was wearing a fine dress that could be worn at other occasions. The veil is originally a sign of obedience and submissiveness (such as seen in Muslim cultures). Folklore has it that the veil was also a clever way to disguise a bride who was recently captured. During the Medieval period, this custom developed into covering the bridal couple with a veil during the ceremony.

Witnesses
During Medieval times, sexual union was considered a necessary condition of a marriage. Therefore, witnesses originally acted as witnesses to the post-ceremony consummation that took place that evening.

Best Man
Popular legend has it that the Best Man was the groom’s partner in crime when a bride was abducted. He helped to abduct her, and later hid their whereabouts to disgruntled kinsmen.

The Bride to the Left
Having a bride to the left of the groom frees his right hand to draw his sword (I’ve never seen that happen) to fend off the Bad Guys.

Cake
During Roman times, wheat and later, cake crumbs were thrown at brides (and grooms) to bless them with fertility. The cakes were, at first, biscuits or scones. These were made by the guests and piled high during the festivities. A clever French baker created the decorated multi-tiered cake from the "piled high" concept.

Flower Toss
In a gesture of sharing the good fortune, the bride tosses flowers (a symbol of fertility and frailty) to unmarried maidens.

Garter Toss
The garter toss is remnant of the times when the wedding guests would follow the bridal couple to the room where the consummation would take place. In rowdiness, guests would paw at the bridal couple, cheering them onto the pending "act of sexual union." It was up to the Best Man to chase the guests away. Lucky would be the guest who actually stole a piece of clothing from the bride or groom! In time, a piece of clothing (such as the garter) was thrown at the lively mob to appease their bawdy appetite. No longer do we openly celebrate the consummation, but we still cheer on the offering of the garter.

Rice Toss
Rice, birdseed, wheat, cake crumbs, and other seeds and nuts have been thrown at bridal couples ever since Roman times to symbolize fertility.

Old Shoes Tied to the Get-away Car
Believe it or not, old shoes were once thrown at a bride as a symbol of fertility, since feet (and therefore shoes) were a phallic symbol.

Honeymoon
In Medieval times of bride-capture, the groom would hide with his new bride for a period of one month (one moon cycle). The term "honey" refers to the wine of newlyweds – meade – which is made from honey.

P.S.
Origin of the Word bridal -- from "bride’s ale," a special brew

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