In every culture, wedding ceremonies are steeped in tradition. Whether or not you include the most common Anglo-Saxon wedding customs in your own nuptials is entirely up to you, but I was wondering recently where we came up with some of our seemingly random wedding must-dos and must-haves. My research actually turned up some fairly interesting facts. For example, who knew that back in the day, groomsmen would sneak into the bridal quarters and steal her undergarments for luck? More importantly, who knew that there were so many brides forced to go commando on their wedding day because of these Ancient Roman frat boys? As far as I can tell, most traditional wedding symbols and rituals seem to serve one of the following purposes: To ward off evil spirits, bring financial prosperity, increase fertility, or to amuse the groom's friends. So for those of you who are looking to live in a ghost-free waterfront mansion and give birth to triplets exactly nine months after your honeymoon while your husband plays XBox with his buddies, listen up.
The White Bridal Gown
During 16th century, Queen Victoria decided that white would be the symbol of purity and virginity for brides. I think Vicky must have been sporting a sweet tan at the time, because why else would she have chosen this to be the color of the millennium? Before that, wedding gowns were often made with bright colors. Also, white was a color of celebration for Ancient Romans, but this is not as widely recognized as a precipitating factor. The veil? Yeah, that was to ward off evil spirits…who presumably couldn't cast spells through tulle.
Wedding Party
Oh, those wacky ancient frat boys. Apparently, and this is a hoot, a group of clansmen used to sneak into the family dwelling of a young girl and kidnap her, making her the bride of whoever happened to have killed the most wooly mammoths that week or something. Groomsmen are a relic of this romantic custom. I am left only to assume that bridesmaids served the historical purpose of allowing the bride to dress her friends in pink taffeta and take pictures of them, providing her with a little comic relief after having been stolen from her family's home by a group of smelly Neanderthals.
Father/Daughter Processional
As most people know, this tradition is left over from a time when women were considered property, the guardianship of which was transferred from the bride's father to her husband. Personally, I think it can still be a special father-daughter ritual with a more updated meaning, although many brides today choose to have both parents walk them down the aisle, neither, or somebody else entirely.
Exchanging Rings
This ritual goes back many moons, to a time even before celebrities wore knuckle-busting pink diamond engagement rings. The circular band is a symbol of everlasting love, which the Egyptians started the custom of wearing on the 3rd finger of the left hand because they believed that the blood flowed directly between there and the heart.
Bouquet Toss
Nope, it hasn't always served simply to shine the spotlight on the single girls so that the groom's buddies knew where to direct their ever-so-subtle advances. Apparently it used to be good luck to try to take a piece of the bridal bouquet or even clothing from the bride after the wedding, so the bouquet toss was designed to placate potential troublemakers. It's a similar story with the garter toss, only the groomsmen actually took bridal undergarments out of her dressing quarters for luck. At least, from the accounts that I've read, they didn't actually remove the underthings off of the bride's person…although I'm sure this was dependent upon whether or not there was an open bar at the reception.
The 'Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue and a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe' Jingle
This saying comes from Victorian times, although some of the components are much older. Something old (often a piece of jewelry, or the bride's mother's or grandmother's wedding dress) usually signified ties with family and friends before marriage, which they hoped would remain strong as she entered this new stage of life. Something new signified wealth financial prosperity for the bridal couple. Something borrowed (think handkerchief or jewelry here, NOT underpants…save these for the 'new' or 'blue' categories, ladies) usually came from another bride in a happy marriage, and was supposed to beget that happiness to the new couple. Something blue originated from the fact that blue was an ancient biblical symbol of loyalty and purity, and brides used to wear blue ribbons in hair to signify these qualities. The silver sixpence coin in the shoe is usually replaced by a penny these days (the sixpence is fairly hard to come by lately; you'll notice that you hardly ever get one with your change at the 7-11). This was another symbol of wealth, intended to attract fortune to the marriage. But a measly penny? Come on now…I think if you really want to end up rolling in the dough you might as well up the ante, here: Just tape a Benjamin to your bum, underneath those fancy blue skivvies.
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