Some Fun Facts
| Wedding announcements: The Catholic tradition of "posting the banns" required a couple to announce their wedding in print; this helped ensure they were not related. | |
| Fathers walking brides down the aisle: Because weddings used to be business transactions, fathers walked brides down the aisle to transfer ownership to grooms. Romantic! | |
| Bachelor parties: Originally held by Spartan soldiers, bachelor parities were wild fetes to kiss the single life goodbye. | |
| Best man: "Best" used to refer less to the friendship quality and more to the man's sword skills. Because you can never have enough backup support for a runaway bride. | |
| Ceremony: The bride stands to the left during Christian wedding ceremonies, because the groom needed to be ready to fight off suitors with his right hand. | |
| Ring placement: Engagement and wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, because ancient Greeks and Romans believed that a vein in that finger led directly to the heart. | |
| Tying the knot: The phrase is derived from the literal practice of tying couples together to symbolize the commitment of marriage. | |
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Tossing bouquets: Newlyweds used to go in another room to seal the
deal immediately after the wedding ceremony. Guests hung around outside to
ensure the marriage transaction was completed, but men used to grab at the
bride as she walked with her groom. So one inventive bride through her
bouquet to create a distraction, and other brides followed suit.
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Wedding cakes take center stage in the traditional cake cutting
ceremony, symbolically the first task that bride and groom perform jointly
as husband and wife. This is one tradition that most of us have witnessed
many times. The first piece of cake is cut by the bride with the "help" of
the groom. This task originally was delegated exclusively to the bride. It
was she who cut the cake for sharing with her guests. Distributing pieces of
cake to one's guests is a tradition that also dates back to the Roman Empire
and continues today. Following the tradition of breaking the bread over the
bride's head, guests would scramble for crumbs that fell to the ground.
Presumably the consumption of such pieces ensured fertility. But, as numbers
of wedding party guests grew, so did the size of the wedding cake, making
the distribution process impossible for the bride to undertake on her own.
Cake cutting became more difficult with early multitiered cakes, because the
icing had to be hard enough to support the cake's own weight. This, of
necessity, made cutting the cake a joint project. After the cake cutting
ceremony, the couple proceed to feed one other from the first slice. This
provides another lovely piece of symbolism, the mutual commitment of bride
and groom to provide for one another. The Groom's Cake is a tradition that was prevalent in early American ceremonies, but seems to have fallen from favor in most contemporary weddings. The groom's cake was usually dark (e.g., chocolate) to contrast with the bride's cake. The groom's cake appeared at the reception along with the wedding cake. The origin of this tradition is unclear. Some believe it was to be served by the groom, with a glass of wine, to the bridesmaids. Others believe it was to be saved and subsequently shared with friends after the honeymoon. The tradition seems to have survived primarily in the South. |
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Wedding Bouquet: Flowers are incorporated into the wedding ceremony as a
symbol of fertility. The first bouquets consisted of herbs and, later, orange
blossoms.
Bridesmaids: The bridal party is a tradition that has been established for many centuries. For a long time the purpose of the bridal party was to fool evil spirits. The bride's friends dressed similarly to her in order to confuse any virulent presences that might be lurking about. Today bridesmaids are there to support the bride in the stressful times during the wedding.
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