Though today our pre-wedding customs, such as the bridal shower and bachelor[ette] party, are generally festive occasions, this was not always the case. In many Eastern European cultures, pre-wedding customs are more serious, seen as a time for the bride and groom to participate in reverent acts of purification -- or even as an occasion to mourn the passing of their childhood. Russian women, upon engagement, are excused from most of their chores and put on special clothing to signify mourning. Friends hold what amount to good-bye parties, and sing songs of lament at the passing of the bride's innocence. Keep in mind the bride may have been facing her impending departure from not only her family, but from the village of her birth. Her friends sang about the ill treatment and misfortune she would most likely face once she became part of her husband's family -- giving her plenty to look forward too. They would advise her to express her grief now, before the wedding day. In many cases, this sadness was merely ceremonial; as an old Russian proverb says: "Weeping bride, laughing wife; laughing bride, weeping wife." Inspired by TheKnot.com -Ingrid Ducmanis

Q:Why do people wear wedding rings on their fourth finger, next to the pinky? Is there any historical significance behind this?

A: Marriage rings are symbolic signs that the couple is bound together and joined in love.

The ring is worn on the left hand because most people are right handed. The left hand was thought of as inferior; therefore placing a ring on the left hand meant submission and obedience to the other. This is still disagreed on between cultures.

Even with the disagreement, which finger the ring is placed on is not argued. The placement of the ring on the third finger originated because there is an artery in that finger that leads straight to the heart. Romans believed this to be the “vein of love.”

Originally, only one ring was worn until the thirteenth century and it did not have diamonds on it. Pope Innocent III declared that there was to be a waiting period between betrothal and marriage. This lead to engagement and wedding rings. The first recorded account of a diamond engagement ring was in 1477, when Maximilian I, King of Germany, proposed to Mary of Burgundy and offered her a diamond ring to seal his vow.

We all know who is suppose to wear what to a wedding but where do these traditions come from? Lets take a look at the meaning behind them!

Wedding Attire

According to the Bride's Book of Etiquette, for the past 2,000 years, beginning in the Roman era, the white wedding gown has been a symbol of celebration. During Victorian times, in the 19^th century, white symbolized affluence because it was assured that a woman would only be able to wear a white dress once or twice, before it was soiled. Historically, marriage is a joining together of two families, not just two people. The bride's family had to guarantee her virginity because it represented their honor. The way in which the color white was chosen to be the bridal color, was drawn from a little girls first communion. When a little girl takes her first communion, she put on virgin-white dress. White is the purest color of all therefore, the white wedding dress become a symbol of purity.

Originally, the veil protected the bride from evil, jealous spirits and stares from curious outsiders. The veil was worn to confuse the devil and protect the bride from evil doers. They varied in color. Some were red (the color of defiance) or blue (meaning constancy) or yellow (the classic color of Hymen, god of marriage). The Greek and Roman brides wore flame yellow or red veils which was thought to ward off demons. Early Christian brides wore white symbolizing celebration, youth and purity. The veil is usually worn covering the face and then when it is lifted, it is a symbol of the bride being revealed as the treasured beloved. The white veil can still be seen today in traditional western wedding ceremonies, although many modern brides do not have the veil cover their face. They wear it as another ornament that goes along with their wedding gown. It is still the color white but it is usually placed under or on top of their up-do hair style. The wearing of the veil is currently only a sentimental gesture or formality.

Almost everyone knows the old English rhyme goes like this, "Someone olde, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a sixpence in her shoe . . . " This has been passed down from decades ago and each of these things symbolizes something special and unique. Something old: continuity, something new: optimism for the future, something borrowed: borrowed happiness, something blue: fidelity and a sixpence in her shoe: good fortune.

It is very traditional for the wedding party to dress alike. During Roman law, in order to make a wedding legal there has to be 10 witnesses present. In order to confuse the netherworld and the evil spirits that lurked at the altar, several witnesses dressed exactly like the bride and groom. Also, in Europe it was very common that the bride and groom and all of their friends walk to the church together. They were afraid that perhaps someone who rejected the marriage would see them and put an evil curse of the bride and groom. In attempts to prevent that, the wedding party would dress exactly like the bride and groom to trick the evil doers. This leads to the present day wedding party attire. It is no longer respectable to wear what the bride and groom wears, in fact if a wedding guest wears white, it is seen as taking the spot light off of the bride and is very disrespectable. The bridal party (bridesmaids and groomsmen) now wears matching dresses or suits according the couples preference.

Thousands of people get married everyday, all over the world and each couple has the free will to choose what elements and practices to have within their wedding ceremony. The presence of flowers and music is a almost a necessity within all modern weddings. But where do these practices come from? Let’s take a look!



Music and Flowers
The presence of music at a wedding dates back to the days when noise was considered to keep evil spirits away. Now music adds solemnity, praise and joyous celebration to the wedding ceremony. Not only is there traditional music played at weddings, but non-traditional, such as the tying old cans to the back of the couple’s getaway car. This is also considered music and was done to frighten the devil away from the newlywed couple.

Flowers became a custom long ago within wedding ceremonies. During the Middle Ages, noble brides wore their finest jewelry on their wedding day, but peasants wore their favorite flowers, often times in the form of a garland. In ancient France, the father of a girl with no dowry would tell prospective grooms that her fortune would be her garland. The garland was a tribute to her virtue. Nowadays the amount of flowers at a wedding is seen as display of the father’s fortune, rather than the bride’s virtues.

Flowers carry symbolic meaning. For example, orange blossoms are an emblem of fruitfulness, baby’s breath stand for fertility and rosemary for remembrance. Greeks used ivy as a symbol for indissoluble love. Today wedding flowers still bring a message of fertility, enduring love and bounty. Yet modern florists see brides picking flowers based on color schemes or personal preference more often rather than the meaning behind the flowers.

Why do brides then carry a bouquet of flowers down the aisle? It was the Victorian’s that took the garland and made it into a bouquet. Also, the Early Roman brides carried bunches of herbs under their veils to symbolize fidelity and fertility and to ward off evil. This shows the transition of flowers as jewelry to the flowers being held in the bouquet; although it is common today for brides to have flowers in their hair as well as in their bouquet.

Within wedding history, mothers took flowers and decorated the bride’s house and the groom’s house with olive and laurel leaves as symbols of virtue and abundance. This practice was perhaps a forerunner of decorating the altar in the church with flowers and greenery. In present wedding ceremonies, wedding guests expect to see the wedding altar or wedding stage decorated beautifully with flowers and greenery.

In the past, wedding guests scattered flower petals from the house of the bride all the way to the church. We can now see this tradition being exhibited through the flower girl. As a young girl (usually wearing a dress resembling the brides) walks down the aisle before the bride, she will take flower petals or something resembling them and toss them to the ground, to pave the way for the bride, as part of the processional.

Currently, at a traditional western wedding ceremony bridesmaids and the groom have flowers too. This is because "early bridesmaids' bouquets were made out of pungent herbs such as rosemary and garlic, not flowers. The smell was supposed to drive away evil spirits eyeing the bridal party. Today, most brides are not worried about evil spirits and do not choose to have pungent bouquets for their wedding party. This would bring an element of imperfect to their special day. Rather, they choose flowers based on elegance and appropriate color theme to suit their personalized wedding.

Photo by Jim Kennedy Photographers

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because 
their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon!