The wedding shower originated with a Dutch maiden who fell
in love with an impoverished miller. Her friends "showered" her and
her groom with so many gifts that they could forego her missing dowry.
A 19th Century reason for wearing the wedding ring on the
fourth finger of the left hand was that this finger had a vein that led
directly to the heart.
Why "something old, something new, something borrowed,
something blue"? The "old" was usually a personal gift from
mother to daughter, a symbolic piece of wisdom for married life.
"Something new" symbolized the new family formed by the couple.
"Borrowing" is especially important, since it is to come from a
happily married woman, thereby lending the bride some of her own marital bliss
to carry into the new union. Blue has two traditions: Pagan Roman maidens wore
blue on the borders of their robes to denote love, modesty and fidelity, while
Christians associate it with the purity of the Virgin Mary.
The custom of carrying the bride over the threshold stems
from the same belief that aroused the idea of runway carpet and strewing the
aisle with flowers and petals. It was an ancient belief that the newly married
couple was very susceptible to evil spirits. By carrying the bride and
supplying a protective layer between the floor and bride, she would be
protected from the ground monster.
the bridal veil is descendant from two sources. A woman’s
face that was covered by a veil meant that she was spoken for. A veil was used
to disguise the bride so that she would not be recognized by the evil spirits
wishing to harm the vulnerable bridal couple.
The Jewish Chuppa canopy offered a sanctuary from evil
spirits.
The kiss that seals the wedding is much more than a sign of
affection. It has long been a token of bonding - the exchange of spirits as
each partner sends a part of the self into the new spouse’s soul, there to
abide ever after.
An old Scottish belief for good fortune: A bride should be
met at the door after the wedding ceremony by her mother, who must then break
a currant bun over her daughter’s head.
If a cat sneezes on the day before a wedding, the bride
will be lucky in her marriage.
A young bride always wore her hair long and loose as a sign
of her youth and innocence.
An old tradition that isn’t practiced today, breaking the
cake over the bride’s head has its origins in the roman empire. The groom
would eat part of a loaf of barley bread baked for the occasion and break the
rest over the head of the bride. It is believed that this symbolized the
breaking of the hymen and the dominance of the groom over the bride. As time
wore on and wedding cakes evolved into a more modern form of a cake, it became
impossible, much to the relief of many brides, to properly "break"
the cake over the bride’s head.
When asked about the color of a wedding cake, most people
would answer white. The white color of the icing on a wedding cake has come to
symbolize purity and virginal attributes. This notion was first put forward in
Victorian times. Before then, though most wedding cakes were white because of
a more practical reason. At the time, ingredients for the wedding cake were
much harder to acquire especially for the icing. White icing ment that only
the finest refined sugar was used, and so the whiter the cake, the more
affluent the families involved were perceived! Another reason that the
whiteness of the cake was considered pure was the association of the cake with
the bride. Originally, wedding cakes were called brides cakes. This not only
emphasized the bride as the main focal point of the wedding, but also created
a link between the bride and the cake. In fact, even today, the link is being
reinforced. Many couples have requested wedding cakes be made to match their
color with the wedding dress!
Perhaps the most well-known tradition associated with
wedding cakes is the joint task of cutting the cake. Here the first piece is
cut by the bride with feigned assistance from the groom. It has come to
symbolize the first task in the couple’s life together. Originally, it was
the sole duty of the bride to cut the cake for sharing by the guests. As cakes
became grander, the task became quite formidable, particularly in the early
multi-tired cakes where the icing had to be strong and rigid enough to support
the upper tiers. It became a joint task more out of necessity than symbolism.
Immediately after the cutting, the bride and groom feed each other the first
slice. This action symbolizes the commitment to provide for each other that
the bride and groom have undertaken. However, in most American weddings, this
task has the appearance of a traditional slapstick pie-fight.
The idea of presenting pieces of cake as gifts for guests
started as far back as the roman empire, but it is still carried on today.
After the tradition of breaking the bread over the bride’s head, the guest
would grab for the crumbs that fell to the ground as catalysts for fertility.
The idea of sleeping with a piece of cake underneath your pillow was
chronicled as early as the 17th century and is the main reason behind giving
cake as a gift today. It is said that you will dream of your future spouse if
you sleep with a piece of wedding cake underneath your pillow. A twist on this
tradition in the late 18th century has the bride handing out tiny crumbs of
cake that were passed through her ring for people to place underneath their
pillows. This was stopped after ceremonial rules frowned on the bride removing
her ring after the service.
With multi-tier cakes, most couples decide that they would
like to save the top tier for a later time. This tradition has its roots in
the late 19th century when grand cakes were baked for the occasion of the
christening of a child. It was expected that a christening would occur soon
after the wedding ceremony, so the two ceremonies were linked, as were the
cakes. The top tier on a three tier cake is for the christening, the middle
tier for distribution and the bottom tier for the reception.