There are a lot of things we have adopted as norms that we really do not know the historical background. Howbeit, good or bad, we've adopted it and so we move on. However, since we may not be priviledged to know all, we can as well know some. So let's do a little extra by dishing out some fun-never-heard-before facts about weddings. These facts should leave your jaws dropped.
- Before the church declared marriage a sacrament, couples often sought sacred places in nature to wed, such as a hilltop or cliff, where the earth supposedly meets heaven.
- Flower girls traditionally threw flower petals in the bride’s path to lead her to a sweet, plentiful future.
- In some African ceremonies, it was a sentiment of well wishing to greet the new bride with the words: “May you bear 12 children with him.”
- The superstition that the bridegroom must not see his bride before the wedding stems from the days when marriages were arranged and the groom might never have seen the bride. There was the chance that if he saw her, he might bolt. Other sources say that to see the bride in her dress is peering into the future, which can bring bad luck.
- The bride’s veil traditionally symbolized her youth and virginity. Veils also hid the bride from jealous spirits or the Evil Eye. In the past, veils could be red, blue or yellow (the color of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage).
- The modern white veil became popular during the Victorian era as a symbol of purity and modesty. A white veil also connoted that a bride was wealthy enough to wear white.
- Because eyebrows are considered intensely alluring in the Orient, historically the bride’s eyebrows were shaved entirely, rendering her powerless to attract a man.
- The Old English word for the wedding cereomony was bridelope, which literally met “bridal run.” The word “wed” derives from the Proto-IndoEuropean base wadh, meaning to pledge or redeem.
- The bachelor or stag party supposedly started in fifth-century Sparta where military compatriots would feast and toast one another on the eve of a wedding, like warriors going to battle.
- Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride” dates to about the sixteenth century. It was believed that if young maiden who had been a bridesmaid three times was unable to catch the eye of unmarried males, then she never would. But, if she served seven times as a bridesmaid, the spell was broken and the woman was thought to be a sure bet for marriage.
Source: factretriever.com
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