Wedding traditions - where they came from and why

alenax

Hello girlies, just thought it would be fun to let you know about wedding traditions and why things are done the way they are... so, here we go!

Engagement ring
The idea that a man should spend two to three months' personal wages for an engagement ring originated from De Beers marketing materials in the early 20th century, in an effort to increase the sale of diamonds - so nothing traditional about that at all! Hehe

According to tradition in some countries (derived from Roman belief), the wedding ring is worn on the left ring finger because the vein in the left ring finger, referred to as the vena amoris was believed to be directly connected to the heart, a symbol of love.

In medieval Europe, the Christian wedding ceremony placed the ring in sequence on the index, middle, and ring fingers of the left hand, representing the trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit respectively. The ring was then left on the ring finger.

The dress
Because the bride is entering a new phase of her life, with the exception of a maximum of one item apiece to satisfy the "something old" and "something borrowed" requirements, everything she wears on her wedding day should be brand new, right down to her shoes.

Contrary to what many have come to think, a white wedding gown has little to do with advertising the virginity of the bride. That construct appears to be a modern one; little in lore suggests it dates back very far at all.

Moreover, white is traditionally the color associated with joy. Roman brides were clad in white for this reason. Church vestments at Easter are also white for the purpose of expressing joy.

The veil
Veils were originally worn to conceal the beauty of the bride from both easily-tempted evil spirits and "friends" of the groom who might otherwise be moved to make off with her. It was felt (at least ritualistically, under the same canon that dictates "All brides are beautiful") that a bride's shattering loveliness put her at immediate risk of abduction. Veiling her was a way of hiding her from lusting eyes until she was safely married off.

The cake
The wedding cake has been part of the bridal feast since Roman times, and it symbolizes fertility and good fortune. By tradition, this foodstuff should be crafted of the best ingredients and made from as rich a mix as possible, to indicate abundance and thus through sympathetic magic attract more of the same to the happy couple. A well-made cake is a sign of a well-formed marriage; a cake that splits or turns out otherwise deformed bodes ill for the wedded pair.

No matter how great a cook the bride is, she must not make her own cake lest she doom herself to working hard all her life.

The first slice must be cut by the bride lest the couple be childless. Nowadays it has become tradition for the husband to assist in the operation by laying his hand over hers while she is cutting. This "cutting by committee" approach is said to signify that the couple announces it will share all
possessions.


What do you think of these so far? Are they romantic? Stupid? Do you know any traditions and the reasons for them?

Horace

De Beers would say that about engagement rings especially as they introduced diamond engagement rings in 1947 before that people used to wear all kinds of stones.

White wedding dresses were only worn by the rich - Queen Victoria wore one and after that there were advances in technology and white wedding dresses could then be bought by the masses (the common people used to wear their Sunday Best to get married in).

alenax

Horace wrote: »

De Beers would say that about engagement rings especially as they introduced diamond engagement rings in 1947 before that people used to wear all kinds of stones.

White wedding dresses were only worn by the rich - Queen Victoria wore one and after that there were advances in technology and white wedding dresses could then be bought by the masses (the common people used to wear their Sunday Best to get married in).

I heard that about Queen Victoria, all the rich people copied her because they wanted to prove how they could afford to spend money on a dress they would only wear once - and the colour white highlighted that as dirt is much more noticeable on it.

bubbles0169

I love reading all these things i just asked h2b if i should wear a veil over my face he said it depends who does my make up lol

hieveryone

Wasn't one of the traditions of an engagement ring to provide a security should there be financial issues - i.e to pawn it?

faerie_girl

I love traditions purly to break them! I've been told I'm not having a proper wedding as it's not very traditional!

I have a few horrified looks when I've told them OH has seen me in my dress. We aren't superstious and I doubt our marriage will doomed because of it!

alenax

hieveryone wrote: »

Wasn't one of the traditions of an engagement ring to provide a security should there be financial issues - i.e to pawn it?

I've never heard of that! That's not very romantic

Horace

Why traditional wedding favours are 5 sugared almonds..this stems from Roman times again when 5 almonds were given to represent Health, Wealth, Happiness, Long Life and Fertility.

RainbowDrops

Ooh, these are really interesting!

RainbowDrops

Found one!

Tossing the Bouquet
Tossing the bouquet is a tradition that stems from England. Women used to try to rip pieces of the bride's dress and flowers in order to obtain some of her good luck. To escape from the crowd the bride would toss her bouquet and run away. Today the bouquet is tossed to single women with the belief that whoever catches it will be the next to marry.

Impet_Limpet

I'm sure I read somewhere that the tradition of not seeing each other on the day stemmed from that couples would not see each other AT ALL before the wedding (in the case of arranged marriages).