Wedding Traditions and Their Origins

Everyone loves the joy and celebration that a wedding brings, not just for the bride and the groom, but also for the family and friends. Many of the customs and traditions that have been associated with weddings are centuries old, and have their roots in ancient beliefs and superstitions. They may not be relevant today, but are followed enthusiastically nonetheless. Let’s take a look at some of the wedding traditions that we follow and examine the ancient customs and superstitions that they’re based on.

The White Bridal Dress

Symbolizing purity and virginity, the while bridal gown is a tradition that almost all brides follow today. This tradition started in the 16^th century. Before that, the bride was free to wear the color of her choice, although certain colors were frowned upon. For instance, green was supposed to imply a girl of loose morals while red and black were symbolic of witchcraft. The tradition of wearing white to a wedding was further boosted when Queen Victoria chose white as the color of her bridal dress over the traditional silver. Even in these modern times, where many traditions and customs have fallen by the wayside, this is one tradition that refuses to go away.

The Bridal Veil

In ancient times, besides symbolizing ‘maidenly modesty’, the bridal veil was also supposed to ward off evil spirits. Quite possibly, it was also meant to ensure that the groom did not see the bride before the ceremony, just in case he didn’t like what he saw. Remember that in old times, most marriages were arranged (sometimes for social and political considerations) and in many cases the bride and groom didn’t get to see each other before the wedding. Hence the bridal veil was quite possibly also intended to avoid disappointing the groom just before the ceremony, in case it resulted in an embarrassing reaction. The veil would be lifted once the ceremony was over, and of course by then it would be too late. Today the veil is merely ornamental and only serves to make the bridal dress more special.

The Bridal Bouquet

Originally, the bridal bouquet was not made of flowers but of herbs and spices. The aroma from the bouquet was supposed to ward off evil spirits. In all probability, these herbs were also possibly supposed to guard the bride from disease. As times changed, the herbs and spices were replaced with better looking (and better smelling) flowers.
The tossing of the bridal bouquet originates from the old belief that a piece of the bride’s dress and flowers would bring good luck. And since it never hurts to have a little bit of luck on your side, women present at the wedding would almost physically assault the bride and rip pieces of her gown away. So rather than risk being manhandled and have her wedding gown torn to shreds, the bride would throw the bouquet at crowd and run for her life. The custom persists to this day, although fortunately the bride in no longer assaulted. She merely throws her bouquet at her single friends and it is believed that whoever catches it will be the next to marry.

Something Old, Something New

All of us have heard this rhyme and nearly every bride (however much she may scoff at superstition) will try and find something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue to wear on her wedding day. The ‘something old’ was usually any highly valued item belonging to the bride’s family and symbolized her ties with her family and her past. ‘Something new’ represented the new gown or jewelry that was symbolic of her new future. ‘Something borrowed’ was usually an item belonging to a happily married woman which was given to the bride in the hope that some of the marital happiness would pass on to the new bride. Blue was the symbol of fidelity and true love, hence ‘something blue’. In addition, it is also the custom to place a coin inside the bride’s shoe – this was supposed to bring wealth and prosperity to the married couple.

Bridesmaids’ Dresses

In old times, the tradition was to dress the bridesmaids exactly in the same manner as the bride, in the hope that any evil spirit trying to target the bride would be confused on seeing so many lookalikes. It is also possible that this was done to ensure that the bride didn’t become a target of a jealous or spurned suitor (who would be as confused as the evil spirit seeing so many women dressed identically with veils covering their faces).

Today of course, the bridesmaid’s dresses are quite different from the bride and come in a variety of colors – although some unkind people do say that they’re deliberately designed to be ugly, so as to avoid giving any competition to the bride.

It’s customary to throw rice at the newlyweds as a symbol of happiness and prosperity. Rice is also symbolic of a life giving seed and it is thrown at the couple in the hope that will have many children.

Giving Away the Bride

In old times, the daughter was quite literally the property of the father. Marriages were very often based not on love but on financial and other considerations. The groom would have to pay a ‘bride price’ to the father of the bride. This ancient tradition of giving the bride away indicated that all fatherly obligations had been fulfilled and that the ownership of the bride was being passed from the father to the husband. Of course, the tradition has evolved over the years and today the father is usually the person who walks his daughter down the aisle. The modern version of this ritual celebrates the loving bond between the father and the daughter, and represents a father’s blessings and good wishes to his daughter.

The Best Man

In ancient times, it was not unheard of for men to forcibly capture women in order to marry them. Quite naturally, the bride’s family was likely to retaliate equally violently to any such attempt, so the man would usually be accompanied by a trusted friend who would defend and protect him. The ‘best man’ was therefore someone who was literally the ‘best’ choice for the job – in other words, someone who would be handy in a fight. The tradition persists to this day and it is customary for the groom to be accompanied during the ceremony by a close friend – although it is doubtful if this friend would go so far as to make himself an accessory to kidnapping and abduction.

The Honeymoon

The term ‘honeymoon’ is believed to have originated form the ancient custom of the couple drinking honey wine every day for one month after the wedding ceremony. It may have also come from the ancient practice of men abducting women to be their brides. The bride would be kept in hiding for about a month or so until the bride’s family called off the search or consented to the wedding. It was customary for the couple to drink honey wine during this period, which could have been the origin of the tradition.

Whatever the tradition and the logic behind these customs, today they have become an integral part of the wedding ceremony and lend an old fashioned charm to the proceedings. So even if they’re not relevant today, there’s no harm in celebrating these ancient customs and enjoying them. After all, a little bit of tradition doesn’t harm anyone, if taken in the right spirit.