Odd Wedding Traditions

Doesn't it sound romantic for the man and the woman to leave their families to come together as one and create a new family? It has been like this since ancient times. Throughout the millennia, the concept of family and marriage has been so closely knotted together that it is sometimes impossible to separate one from the other.

Marriage is present in every culture in some form. Although the laws, norms and cultures may differ, they all still recognize the union of man and woman under one roof.

Marriage has evolved in so many ways from different cultures all over the world throughout the ages. For each culture, there are diverse ways of celebrating something like marriage but there has always been one thing that has remained the same. In every culture, and every tribe, marriage has always been something to be celebrated with singing, eating and the utmost of festivities.

Along with these festivities, a growing and evolving number of traditions filled with meaning and - believe it or not- shocking origins exist.

The Wedding Cake

Today's tall, elaborate, and delicately crafted wedding cakes evolved from the simple grooms-cakes made by family members for the bride-to-be. Before the wedding day, one of these cakes was put under the pillow of the bride. The bride would then sleep and 'dream' of the groom, and yes, squish the cake into oblivion.

Cakes during weddings are usually stacked up in large layers, the higher the stack, the more 'glamorous' the cake. Today, people regard these arrangements merely as style. However, they were done so in the past as a symbol of fertility. Layers would be stacked and the number of layers that the couple could reach to kiss over would symbolize how many children they would have.

The real wedding cake was a pound cake that would be 'pounded' and crumbled then tossed at the couple as a sign of fertility. That is where we get today's custom of sprinkling the couple with rice after the wedding.


Tying the knot

'Tying the knot' did not exactly have the same meaning it has today. During Roman times a bride would wear a girdle with knots and the groom would untie the knots on his wedding night. Or, similarly, in ancient tribal times, the bride would usually be wrapped in a sheet with a knot in front. "Untying the knot" was the groom's privilege on the wedding night. In both cases, the practice was to symbolize virginity.


Best Man

The best man used to play a much different role than he plays today. During tribal times, it was the best man's duty to abduct potential brides from other tribes. Just like the cartoons of the men clubbing the woman over the head and dragging her away, that was typically how the best man performed the abduction. He would also ward off the angry relatives of the bride, if they were to try to interfere. Later in Europe, the best man would stand to the right of the groom, with his sword ready to fight off unhappy clan members.

Today

We are a little less barbaric than earlier times but there are still many wedding traditions that are observed during the wedding and reception. Some of these traditions are filled with meaning for us still today but there are many that have long lost their original meanings but we continue to use.

You may want to think about which traditions to plan into your wedding preparations that would give extra special meaning for you. These could be as simple as having something borrowed, something blue and something new, or something as elaborate some religious traditional wedding ceremonies. By adding traditions, you can add to the memories of your wedding day.