Misc. Wedding Fluff
Bridal....The word comes from a fund-raising custom in England in the
16th and 17th centuries in which the bride brewd a strong "bride-ale" to sell
to her friendsand neighbors. The was usually held immediately after the
wedding ceremony. Everyone had plenty to drink, and then the collection
box
was passed around.
Engagement Ring...It is bad luck to lose of damage an engagement
ring.
Never let another girl try on the ring, or the bride's future
happiness is jeopardized. The fiance's birthstone is lucky for an engagement ring. The diamond was not popular until the 19th century, when the exploitation of South African diamond deposits made it relatively inexpensive.
Months for marriage....Marry in September's shine, Your living will be rich and fine. If in October you do marry, Love will come but riches tarry. If you wed in bleak November, Only joy will come, remember. When December's showers fall fast, Marry and true love will last. Marry in May Rue for aye. May marriages were avoided. Death or misfortune was sure to follow. A child born of a May marriage is sickly. Marriage in Lent You'll live to repent. June was considered a lucky month by the Romans, especially at times of the full or new moon. June was supposedly derived from and sacred to June.
History of the wedding ring...The oldest rings are found in Egypt. "Before the introduction of coinage, Egyptain gold was circulated in the form of rings. The husband placed one of them on his wife's finger to show that he entrusted her with his property."
The weddin ring was worn by the ancient Romans and sometimes among the Jews;from these ti became a part of the Christian marriage. The Anglo-Saxons' keys to all their worldly goods were hung on a ring which was worn on the married woman's finger. The Puritans objected to the wedding ring in the ceremony, so the wife put it on quietly afterwords. Betrothal rings were in shapes symbolic of love. An amphisbaene, or serpent with it's tail in its mouth, meant eternal love; a pair of clasped hands is one of the oldest symbols of plighted troth. In the 14th and 15th centuries, they were inscribed in "posies" (poesies) or verses: "This is my heart," "Not two but one till life is gone." In the 19th century, wedding rings were also commonly engraved.
Days for marriage...Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday best day of all, Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses and Saturday, no luck at all. In New England, no one married on Friday: it was the hangman's day.
Early on, Sunday was a good day for marriage. In the 19th century, however, it was a complete day of rest, a day for renewing oneself, not a good day for a wedding.
Colors...The traditional color of the virgin's robe, blue represents constancy. The custom of wearing "something blue" is said to be from the ancient Israelites, the bride wearing a "ribband of blue" over her shoulder meaning "purity, love and fidelity." Yellow is the classic color of Hymen, the god of marriage. As it is also the color of the flame, in Roman times the flame-yellow veil was the most important part or the bride's attire. Saffron-colored shoes were also important. In 18th century America yellow, usually in heavy brocades, was the favorite color for the bride. Blue was second in popularity lilac third. Red, the color of defiance, was worn by many brides
during the Revolutionary War. Gold was a proper color to wear for a second marriage in the 17th century. White and silver gowns were in vogue in the 18the century. By 1750 many British brides were wearing white satin and lace.
Wedding Veil..."If the veil is put on before the day [of the wedding] the bride may be deserted, have an unhappy marriage, or even die before the wedding." If a friend tries on the veil, she may run off with the groom.
Bridal Handkerchief...The elaborately worked bridal handkerchief was an important item int he bride;s attire, the old saying being, "A bride weeps on her wedding day, or tears will fall later."
Wedding Cake...Originally called bride-cake, later bride's cake, the wedding cake has always been an important part of the wedding festivities, with much symbolism. The bridal cake was at wedding since Roman times, then made of grain and salt. In greece, the cake was of pounded grain and honey. The iced marzipan cake began in the 17th century. In early America the typical wedding cake was a dark fruit type that could be stored. By the time of the Civil War , the traditional white wedding cake had appeared. The two kinds of wedding cakes were customary: the dark fruit cake was the groom's cake; the white cake was the bride's. For many brides of the countryside, however, the popular wedding cake was a rich pound cake.
Whatever the kind of cake, there were two very important traditions: the bride must cut the first piece or she would be childless; she must save a piece, no matter if only a crumb, for her and her husband to eat on their first anniversity for luck and a long life together.
Wedding favors..Knots were one of the earliest forms of marriage. Literally, the couples clothes were tied together with a know, from whence the expression "tying the marriage know" originated. Thus, knots of ribbons were given as favors, at first of bright colors. Then, by the 18th century, they could only be white; simply the "vulgar" continued to give the colored ones.
Gloves were given as wedding favors. The verse often accompanying the gloves was "Take away the 'g' and make us a pair of loves.
A piece of wedding cake first threaded through the bride's ring a certain number of times (popularly 9 times) was a most important favor. If it were put into the left stocking and then under the pillow, one could expect dreams of his or her future marriage partner.
Throwing Rice...Supposedly form the primitive urge to thrpw things at the bride, the Hewbrews threw cake, the Greeks threw grain, fruit and sweetmeats, all symbolic of best wishes for fertility.
Later flowers and petals were thrown at the bride and groom. By the 1870's, rice was used.
Throwing the bouquet and garter...This grew out of the popular custom of "flinging the stocking" of the 18th century. After the bride and bridegroom were put to bed, the entire wedding party joined them in the room. The men then took the bride's stockings, the women those of the bridegroom. Seated at the foot of the bridal bed, they took turns trying to fling the stocking "backwards o'er head...to hit him or her on the nose." As the superstition went, who hits the mark o'er the left shoulder must be married be ere twelve months older.
Throwing confetti..Originally the was tiny sweetness of sugared almonds thrown byt he crowd at festivals in Italy. In Paris, confetti was made of pellets of plaster, but they were so dangerous that they were replaced by paper.
In the 19th century teh pieces of paper were cut into tiny symbols. Later they became small circles of colored tissue paper.
Throwing shoes...Considered the owner's like essence, shoes were thrown after the couple for good luck. They also represented the transference of authority from the father to the husband. In the 18th and 19th centuries, satin slippers were thrown at the carriage as the bridal pair were driving off. The superstition was that a slipper alighting on the top of the carriage promised good luck forever.
honeymoon...The word "honeymoon" was used as early as the 16th century. The earlier word was "honey-month", but this was considered low class; the proper term among the genteel was "going away." The customs goes back to marriage by capture when the groom had "a hurried flight made necessey by the almost certain wrath of the bride's father." The couple kept out of his way for a least a month.
Carring the bride over the threshold....The bride was carried over the threshold in ancient Rome because a stumble at the moment was very unlucky. Thresholds were believed to be treacherous places for the gathering of evil spirits.
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