March 4, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

Rings were used as currency in the Middle East prior to the advent of coinage and were an outward sign of a person’s wealth. In the event of the marriage not turning out okay a woman might have been forced to leave with nothing but the jewelry she wore. This lends a whole new dimension to the saying “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend!” In ancient times the wedding ring was thought to protect the bride from “evil spirits”. Ancient Roman wedding rings were originally made of iron, but later a gold band came to symbolize everlasting love and commitment in marriage. Roman wedding rings were carved with two clasped hands. Very early rings had a carved key through which a woman was thought to be able to open her husband’s heart.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »

March 4, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

Many of our traditions were born in the days of “Marriage by Capture”. One source says that after “kidnapping” his bride, the groom would take her and go into hiding. By the time the bride’s family tracked them down the bride would probably already be pregnant! A “bride price” would then be negotiated. An earlier source is the early Jewish custom of the bride and groom spending a week together alone immediately after the marriage feast. The earliest reference to this practice is the old testament’s account of Jacob’s marriages to Leah and Rachel.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »

March 4, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

The standard, White dress for weddings, really started in Victorian times thanks to Queen Victoria. Before that the bride usually wore her favorite color and used it as her best dress after the wedding. It was also a display of wealth to have a dress you only wear once. People did not have as many changes of clothes as we do now. Dresses had high collars, but party dresses could show a huge amount of chest. It became fashionable to copy Queen Victoria’s wedding. This is still done today. The Victorian bride favored a long veil down her back with a small crown of flowers (Queen Victoria wore orange blossoms.) Battenburg lace became very popular at this time. Before Queen Victoria, Royals always wed in Silver and commoners in blue. Brides of ancient Israel wore blue ribbons on the border of their wedding cloths to denote, love, modesty and fidelity. These are ideals still associated today with that color. Blue is also associated with the purity of the Virgin Mary and is the most popular of all colors. Many were married gowned in it. The something blue is a throwback to this ancient tradition honoring the purity of the bride. Faced with such an enduring biblical and social tradition it is ironic that Queen Victoria’s radical departure from tradition has become the norm. She also did a mean Waltz, by all accounts, which was far more shocking!
Red is the color of “Love and Joy” in China. At one time it was the brides’ favorite color of choice for the wedding garment, candles, guest gift favors and everything that went along with her wedding. In China today, many girls still choose to go by the old traditions of their forefathers.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »

March 4, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

The betrothal or engagement ring has for centuries symbolized the promise of a future together, sealed with the giving and accepting of a ring. In the early days of “Marriage by Purchase”, the betrothal ring served two purposes, a partial payment for the bride and as well a symbol of the groom’s good intentions. Rings featuring gem stones were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Often, the first letter of the stones within the setting spelled out the name of the giver or a word, such as “dearest” (diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, epidote, sapphire, turquoise). There was also a ring known as the “Gimmal Ring”. This three part ring had two clasped hands on it. During the engagement, one part of the ring was worn by the bride, one part by the groom and the third by a witness. It was reunited as the bride’s wedding ring, on the day of their marriage. The tradition of using diamonds in engagement rings, the first choice among brides today, can be traced to Medieval Italy (around 1477), where because of its beauty and its hardness, was chosen to stand for enduring love.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »

March 4, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

Some say the tradition of wearing a bridal veil it started with the Romans who were very fond of arranged marriages. The Bride wore the veil so that the husband-to-be couldn’t see her face, and back out of the marriage if he didn’t like the way she looked. The bridal veil was yellow in ancient Greece and red in ancient Rome, usually covering the bride from head to toe, and has since the earliest of times, denoted the subordination of a woman to man . The thicker the veil, the more traditional the implication of wearing it. According to tradition, it is considered bad luck for the bride to be seen by the groom before the ceremony. In the old days of marriage by purchase, the couple rarely saw each other, if at all, before the wedding. Choosing with whom you wanted to be wed is historically a fairly recent phenomenon. The lifting of the veil at the end of the ceremony symbolizes male dominance. If the bride takes the initiative in lifting it, thereby presenting herself to him, she is showing more independence.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »

March 4, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

The first kiss as Husband and Wife dates back to the earliest days of civilization in the Middle East. A kiss was used as the formal seal to agreements, contracts, etc. In Ancient Rome a kiss finalized the contract and made the union legally binding. Hence the obvious use of the custom at the end of the wedding ceremony to “seal” the marriage vows.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »

March 3, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

In the old days of”Marriage by Capture,” the bride had to be dragged or carried across the threshold because she was being kidnapped, and therefore would not have gone peacefully into the groom’s home. In earlier times, people thought that a family’s demons followed the woman and to keep her family demons from going into the groom’s home, she was carried across the threshold upon her entering for the first time. In the times of the Romans, when men ALWAYS opened doors for ladies, this would just seem like a natural thing to do, but they believed it to be such bad luck for the bride to trip or stumble crossing the threshold of her new house, that if it were to happen, the marriage would be doomed to failure. So the groom would carry his bride over the threshold thus making sure she didn’t trip.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »

March 3, 2010 by Alan Dodson.

Why do Brides carry bouquets? The Ancient Egyptians had the bride carry strong smelling herbs and flowers which were believed to ward away evil. The Romans did the same, most often choosing rosemary to symbolize fidelity and fertility, as well as to scare off evil spirits. The Greeks carried ivy to symbolize endless love. Orange blossoms, (the world renowned wedding flower) were chosen by the Spaniards, to represent happiness and fulfillment, because the orange tree flowers and bears fruit at the same time. We have the Victorians to thank for the rose being the flower of choice for most weddings. The Victorians were obsessed with attributing meanings to flowers and popularized the red rose as an emblem for passionate true love. A single red rose still bears that meaning today.

Posted in Traditions | Print | No Comments »