Maggie Sottero | Ronald Joyce | Victoria Jane | Eternity Bridal | La Sposa | David Tutera | Sottero and Midgley
The tradition of the wedding cake dates back to Roman times small oat cakes were baked and broken over the brides head to confrere fertility upon her.
Sharing the cake among guests continues this tradition. It is considered bad luck if one of the guests refuses a piece of cake, the bad luck befalling both the couple and the person who refused it.
|Something Blue.||Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
and a silver sixpence for her shoe.
This is an old wedding rhyme, the origins of which are described below.
|Something Old.||This is traditionally a garter or handkerchief from a happily married woman so that her happiness will rub off on the new bride.|
|Something New.||This is traditionally the wedding gown itself.|
|The borrowed was a piece of gold to symbolize future prosperity and a symbol of the sun|
|Something Blue.||Blue is often a blue ribbon to represent the power of the moon to make dreams come true.|
|A Silver Sixpence for her shoe.||
In some areas the silver sixpence was presented by the groom to the bride, as a token of love and sharing.
The word honeymoon comes from medieval times when the bride and groom would drink honey mead for one month after they were married.
White is traditionally worn as a wedding colour in the west. The origin again of this is Roman they considered white the colour of celebration. The white symbolizing purity, while the Victorians considered it a sign of affluence.
In Britain prior to the 1500's the wedding dress could be any colour, it was with the marriage of Anne of Brittany in 1499 that the tradition of the white wedding gown became established. In Asia including China and Japan white is the colour of death and is not used for weddings, red is considered the colour of celebration and is used mainly as a wedding colour in those countries.
Ancient folklore dictates that an old veil is luckier than a new one, particularly so if it is borrowed from a happily married woman. The happiness good luck and fertility is supposed to pass on to the wearer in her new life.
In some parts of the world the veil would be brightly coloured to ward off evil spirits. In parts of the world where arranged marriages were the norm the purpose of the veil was to prevent the groom actually seeing the bride before he had made the wedding commitment.
Originally the veil symbolized youth and virginity.
Carrying the bride over the threshold is said to bring good luck this must be done when entering their new home after the ceremony. The reasons for this are lost in the mists of time. One explanation is that it comes from Anglo Saxon times when the groom stole his bride and carried her off, another is that it avoids bad luck if the bride falls.
Tying shoes to the wedding car comes from Tudor times, when guests would throw shoes at the couple as they left their reception, it was considered good luck if the bride or groom were struck by one of the shoes. Tin cans are tied to the car in the belief that the noise will drive away evil spirits.
|1||May is traditionally regarded as an unlucky month for marriage.(Marry in May and rue the day.) The Romans used the month of May as a time to make offerings to the dead.|
|2||If a girl is a bridesmaid three times she is likely to be a spinster unless she can be a bridesmaid seven times.|
|3||A matron of honor is considered more lucky than a bridesmaid, as a matron of honor represents stability in marriage.|
|4||It is said that if it rains at the marriage it will be a sad marriage, or if a strong wind blows it will be a turbulent one.|
|5||It would be considered very bad luck if the bride were to trip or stumble when entering her new home for the first time, to avoid this the groom should carry the bride over the threshold of the hotel or house after the ceremony and also over the bedroom threshold.|
|6||It is considered lucky for the bride to cry during the ceremony, but bad luck at any other time during the day.|
|7||A certain way for the bride to ensure happiness is to feed the family cat before leaving for the church.|
|8||Whilst talking about cats if a cat sneezes on the wedding day it's a sure sign of good luck for the couple.|
|9||The wedding car breaking down on the way to the service is considered to be exceptionally bad luck for everyone concerned.|
|10||If the sun shines on the bride and especially if there is a rainbow in the sky it is considered to be a sign of exceptional good luck.|
|11||No matter how tempted you are, or how good a cook you happen to be, don't bake your own wedding cake or you may be destined to work hard for the rest of your life.|
|12||If any of the guests refuse a piece of cake it is considered not only to bring bad luck on them but also on the bride and groom.|
|13||It is said that sisters who marry on the same day or even on the same year are likely to be embarking upon unhappy marriages.|
|14||Meeting a chimney sweep on the way to a wedding is though to bring good luck. Other good luck omens when seen on the way to the ceremony include spiders, lambs, toads, rainbows, and black cats.|
|15||When the bride is leaving her home she should step over the threshold right foot first.|
|16||Jointly cutting the cake is said to announce that the couple intend to share all their possessions.|
|17||If the bride reads through the wedding ceremony before it takes place she risks bad luck and the possibility that the wedding may not take place.|
|18||The tradition of the bride feeding the first piece of cake to the groom, means that she is symbolically giving herself to him.|
|19||If a single girl sleeps with a piece of wedding cake beneath her pillow, it is said that it will cause her to dream of her future husband.|
|20||It was once the custom to keep a tier of the wedding cake to be used at the christening of the first child. Keeping a piece of cake was also supposed to ensure the husbands faithfulness.|
|21||In Rome there was a tradition that 10 witnesses were required five brides maids and five best men, they had to be dressed identically to the bride and groom so that mischievous spirits who were always around at times of celebrations would be unable to know which were the happy couple.|
|22||The bouquet was traditionally a symbol of plenty the greenery was originally ears of corn for fertility.|
|23||The confetti which is now thrown over the bride was originally wheat or rice, so that when the crop grew she would be with child. In Roman times nuts were thrown for the same reason, this is still carried on in parts of France. In Italy small sweets were thrown.|
|24||Yellow wedding veils were worn in Roman times in both the East and the West the bride was required to keep her face covered until the wedding.|
|25||Tossing the garter, this tradition evolved from the 14th century when it was considered good luck to have a piece of the brides dress, there doesn't seem to have been any etiquette as to how this was achieved, resulting sometimes in a free for all where the dress was literally ripped apart, to avoid this it became customary for the bride to throw the garter to the crowd.|
|26||The kiss this is perhaps one of the oldest of the wedding traditions, the kiss was used as a seal of agreement to contracts (mainly in the middle east.) So it follows that the kiss was used at the end of the wedding ceremony, to seal the contract.|
|When the bride is leaving the house for the wedding ceremony she should take a last look in the mirror will bring her good luck. She should not return to the mirror after she has began her journey or bad luck will follow.|
|On her way to the church if a bride sees an open grave, a pig, a lizard, or hears a rooster crow after dawn are all thought to be bad omens. Meeting Monks and nuns is also considered a bad omen's. It is thought that the couple may become dependent on charity, and because Monks and Nuns are associated with poverty and chastity.|
|29||If the bride encounters bad weather on the way to the wedding this is considered to be an omen of an unhappy marriage. Snows during the journey is a good omen as it is associated with fertility and wealth. Cloudy skies and wind are believed to cause a tempestuous marriages.|
In some county's of Ireland it was thought that eating a double yoked egg would confer fertility upon the couple. A laying hen was often tied to the bed on the first night of the honeymoon for the same reason.
|31||In Scotland it was customary for a woman with milk in her breasts to prepare the marital bed to promote fertility in the newlyweds.|
|32||The original bridal canopy was used so that malevolent influences could not cast an evil eye upon her before the ceremony.|