Interesting Wedding Facts:
1. Engagement and wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was once thought that a vein in that finger led directly to the heart.
2.In ancient times, men sometimes captured women to make them their brides. A man would take along his strongest and most trusted friend to help him fight resistance from the woman's family.This friend, therefore, was considered the best man among his friends.
3. The earliest tradition in bridesmaid fashion involved dressing the bridesmaids exactly the same as the bride. As with many older traditions, the idea was that by setting up lookalikes, any troublesome spirits in the area could not fixate on the bride.
4. Queen Victoria started the Western world's white wedding dress trend in 1840 -- before then, brides simply wore their best dress.
5. Ancient Greeks and Romans thought the veil protected the bride from evil spirits. Brides have worn veils ever since.
6.In Egypt, the bride's family traditionally does all the cooking for a week after the wedding, so the couple can…relax.
8. "Something old" represents the bride's link to her family and the past. "Something new" represents hope for good fortune and success in the future. "Something borrowed" usually comes from a happily married woman and is thought to lend some of her good fortune and joy to the new bride. "Something blue" is a symbol of love, fidelity, and purity of the bride. A sixpence in her shoe is to wish the bride wealth in her future life.
9. Because grooms in Anglo-Saxon England often had to defend their brides, the bride would stand to the left of her groom so that his sword arm was free.
10. The bride would carry a small bouquet of fresh herbs and flowers to mask possible body odor as they only took a bath once a year. During even earlier times when the fear of "evil spirits" was most common, brides carried stinking bouquets of herbs and spices to frighten the demons away.
11. Further, in France, at the end of the wedding ceremony guests would actually rush the bride at the altar to snag a piece of her dress, which was considered a piece of good luck.A wedding would end with a battered bride sobbing at the altar in a snarl of tattered rags.Apparently, these practices were so intrusive and invasive that someone, somewhere, decided to pacify the mob by tossing out the garter.
12.The bride's father to supply his new son-in-law with all the "mead" he could drink for a period of a month after the wedding. "Mead" is honey beer, and was believed to be the drink of a "real man" so if he could handle it, he would gain the Father's approval. This period was called "Honey-month" The calendar was based on the moon cycle then, which is where we get what is now known as the "Honeymoon"Another idea was that both the bride and groom would drink this "honey beer" or "honey wine" for a moon cycle (a month) in order to guarantee fertility in their marriage.
2.In ancient times, men sometimes captured women to make them their brides. A man would take along his strongest and most trusted friend to help him fight resistance from the woman's family.This friend, therefore, was considered the best man among his friends.
3. The earliest tradition in bridesmaid fashion involved dressing the bridesmaids exactly the same as the bride. As with many older traditions, the idea was that by setting up lookalikes, any troublesome spirits in the area could not fixate on the bride.
4. Queen Victoria started the Western world's white wedding dress trend in 1840 -- before then, brides simply wore their best dress.
5. Ancient Greeks and Romans thought the veil protected the bride from evil spirits. Brides have worn veils ever since.
6.In Egypt, the bride's family traditionally does all the cooking for a week after the wedding, so the couple can…relax.
8. "Something old" represents the bride's link to her family and the past. "Something new" represents hope for good fortune and success in the future. "Something borrowed" usually comes from a happily married woman and is thought to lend some of her good fortune and joy to the new bride. "Something blue" is a symbol of love, fidelity, and purity of the bride. A sixpence in her shoe is to wish the bride wealth in her future life.
9. Because grooms in Anglo-Saxon England often had to defend their brides, the bride would stand to the left of her groom so that his sword arm was free.
10. The bride would carry a small bouquet of fresh herbs and flowers to mask possible body odor as they only took a bath once a year. During even earlier times when the fear of "evil spirits" was most common, brides carried stinking bouquets of herbs and spices to frighten the demons away.
11. Further, in France, at the end of the wedding ceremony guests would actually rush the bride at the altar to snag a piece of her dress, which was considered a piece of good luck.A wedding would end with a battered bride sobbing at the altar in a snarl of tattered rags.Apparently, these practices were so intrusive and invasive that someone, somewhere, decided to pacify the mob by tossing out the garter.
12.The bride's father to supply his new son-in-law with all the "mead" he could drink for a period of a month after the wedding. "Mead" is honey beer, and was believed to be the drink of a "real man" so if he could handle it, he would gain the Father's approval. This period was called "Honey-month" The calendar was based on the moon cycle then, which is where we get what is now known as the "Honeymoon"Another idea was that both the bride and groom would drink this "honey beer" or "honey wine" for a moon cycle (a month) in order to guarantee fertility in their marriage.