Category — history of wedding

Photo by Angela Sevin

There is no limit to the wedding traditions and rituals you can include in your ceremony.  This couple blended Buddhist, Chinese and Native American traditions into their non traditional ceremony on the beach.

Looking for wedding traditions to make your ceremony unique?  This UK based website has a six part series of articles on wedding tradition and superstition alone.

The history of wedding traditions and meanings you may not be familiar with…

The Silver Sixpence - Placed in the bride’s left shoe to guarantee her a lifetime of wealth.

Lucky Horseshoe - Must be hung upside down to keep the good luck in; placed over a doorway it wards off the devil.  Often used as cake toppers.  (I’m hoping not an actual horse shoe.  That’s kind of…icky.)

Bride On the Left, Groom On the Right - This tradition started because the groom would draw his sword with his right hand, allowing him to protect his lady love.  (So she’s out of luck if he’s left handed?)

Throwing Confetti - The custom of throwing confetti or more often sugar coated grain on the newlywed couple dates back to pagan traditions and is supposed to assure fertility.  Personally, I think people love any excuse to throw stuff.

Flower In the Groom’s Button Hole - In Medieval times, a knight would declare his love for his lady by wearing her colors.  Today, the groom wears the primary flower in his bride’s bouquet for this same purpose.  Awww.

Bridesmaids - The bride’s best friends would dress the same as the bride to fool any “evil spirits” out to prevent the wedding.  And you thought your girls were just there for the party!

Carrying the Bride Over the Threshold - The Romans started this one, and no one seems to agree about the meaning.  Some say carrying the bride inside prevents the unwilling virgin from escaping the consummation of her marriage.  Others say the groom steps inside first to show that he rules the household.  (As if!)  Still others say it’s to prevent bad luck to the bride if she should trip.

Are you including any unusual traditions or superstitions in your wedding day?  Leave a comment.

For most people, the traditional white wedding dress represents purity and virtue.  A bride is said to wear a white wedding dress to represent her untarnished, virgin nature.

Em hmm.  I was totally pure and virtuous on my wedding day, too.

But the real history of the wedding dress tells another story…

When Queen Victoria married Albert of Saxe way back in 1840, she wore a white wedding dress.  The white didn’t represent purity and virtue at the time…it showed that she had MONEY.  Few women could afford to buy a dress they could only wear once, and since white was much more difficult to clean back then (no steam cleaners or chemical dry cleans for those poor girls) wearing a white wedding dress was the height of extravagance and WEALTH.

Basically, Queen Victoria wore a white wedding dress because she could.  1800’s Diva Dame that she was.

Of course, all the ladies at court wanted to imitate her…and the tradition of the white wedding dress was born.

For more of that story and photos of some charming…and some not so charming…vintage wedding dress photos, check out The Fabric of Marriage: Wedding Dresses.

It’s become increasingly popular to add color to the wedding gown.  I’ve personally seen blue and red accents in bodice, beading, lacing, or sash in just the past year.  Not to mention wedding dress color options in champagne, ivory and ecru.  We’re no longer locked in to the traditional white wedding dress.  Hallelujah!

Will you wear a white dress?  Go for a bold splash of color on your shoes?

www.AndrewEnglish.com

I ran across these truly unique wedding rings, each engraved with the fingerprint of the lover, the other day at www.AndrewEnglish.com.  It got me thinking about the history of wedding rings, so I decided to see what I could dig up.

It seems the wedding ring dates WAY back to pre-Biblical times.  The wedding ring was likely first used as gifts for the wedding, then as part of the bride’s dowry (or the “please take my daughter” bribe.)

In Greece, two rings were required; a gold one for the groom and a silver one for the bride.  The greater value of the groom’s ring symbolized his “superiority.”

That’s why women deserve TWO rings these days, the engagement and the wedding band…somebody’s gotta make up for the past disrespect of our sisters!

The wedding ring is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because of the ancient belief that a vein in the fourth finger led straight to the heart.  The Romans called this the “vena amoris” or “vein of love.”  (Finally, a little romance enters the picture.)

Only women wore wedding rings for a while, though it became more popular for men to wear them as well after World War II, as a soldier’s remembrance of his spouse during separation.

Read this for a more detailed history of the wedding ring and Wedding Ring Symbol of Love.

Does your chosen wedding ring have special significance?  Leave a comment.