Wedding Traditions

June brings to mind brides and weddings and since this is the month for those special occasions I thought we'd look at some wedding traditions and where they came from.

Many of today's popular wedding ceremony and reception traditions can be traced to ancient Egyptian and European customs. These were often based on symbolism, superstition, folklore, religion, and even the belief that evil spirits could bring disease and death to newlyweds and crops, which was very important in many farm-based early cultures. Although the exact origin and usefulness of many of these early wedding traditions are not always clear, popular acceptance has allowed them to flourish. Besides, many of these wedding traditions are just plain fun!

So here we go:

According to various sources, some of the early marriages were literally carried out by the Groom and his "Bridesmen" (or "Bridesknights") who would kidnap a woman (the origin of "carrying a Bride over the threshold") from another tribe! The Groom and his fellow conspirators would then fight off the female's family of tribesmen with swords held in their right hand while the Groom would hold the captured Bride in his left hand, which is the origin of why a Bride stands on the left side of the Groom at a wedding.
After a successful capture, another politically correct practice was for the Groom to hide his new Bride for one month for mating purposes. It is said that the word "honeymoon" was created to describe this one month cycle of the moon when they would drink mead, which was a honey sweetened alcoholic brew that effects both sobriety and the acidity of the womb, thus increasing fertility.

Great right?
Well why did they choose to marry in June? According to the research I've done this comes from the ancient Romans and their celebration of the Roman goddess Juno:

For centuries, the month of June has been the most popular choice for weddings - but the original reason might surprise you. You see, during the 1400 -1500s, May was the month in which the "annual bath" occurred. Yes, just as it sounds, back then people were only able to bathe thoroughly once each year. As such, since the over-all population smelled relatively fresh in June, it was a good time to hold a special event like a wedding! Further, the month of June is named after the goddess Juno, who was the Roman counterpart to Hera, the goddess of the hearth and home, and patron of wives.

Another version I've heard is that they married in June so that the woman could get pregnant and bear the child before the next harvest season. Gotta love those practical Romans. (Not exactly ROMANtic is it? lol)

Keep checking here for more interesting wedding traditions and history.
Hugz
Donica