Every wedding has cultural, and ancestral believes. However, wedding traditions have origins. Long time ago most of the weddings were done by the bride’s man as he would kidnap a woman from another tribe. The bride got carried by force screaming and kicking which represented a romantic gesture welcoming the bride into her new home. During kidnapping, the best man was to serve as an armed backup away from the disapproving parents. Thus, brides were to stand at the left hand of the groom so that the groom could fight any enemies with the right hand using a sword.
The throwing of rice tradition is also embraced today it is one of the oldest wedding tradition. They believed that this small seed would grow into a big crop and bring good fortune, fertility and prosperity. It is done as the newlyweds exit the wedding party. The throwing of rice was said to have originated from ancient pagan traditions where other crops like oats and nuts were also used. Although the throwing of rice tradition has a little faded as people believe that when a bird eats a lot of rice their stomachs eventually would explode which signify a bad omen. However, the myth is not true because it originated from church employees who got tired of cleaning up after the rice was thrown in wedding ceremonies.
Moreover, wearing of a white wedding dress today for the brides signify that the tradition has well been preserved. The white dress is worn to signify the purity of the bride. Long ago the brides used to wear their best dress on their wedding day or a royal silver wedding dress. However, the tradition of a white dress existed in the 1840’s in Britain when Queen Victoria chose to wear a white dress at her wedding with Prince Albert. The portrayal of the brides wearing a white dress in Hollywood movies also helped crystallize the white wedding into a normative form. As the wearing to Tuxedo for grooms existed when men wore their Sunday best in their weddings.
Bouquet toss grew from the bride’s desire to offer good luck that originated from England where women used to try to rip a piece of the bride’s gown to obtain some good luck. Traditionally the bouquet was made of strong herbs like thyme and garlic which was meant frighten evil spirits. Today the bouquet is made of flowers and the believe is that after the bouquet is tossed whoever catches it will be the next to get married.
During the roman times, the wedding ring had also been worn at the third finger on the left hand because Romans believed that the finger veins runs directly to the heart. The wedding ring is an everlasting circled that symbolizes love.
Photos of Wedding Traditions and their Origins.
