Underwear avaSome wedding traditions are more widespread than others. Often, because they are really weird. For instance, it’s great that we don’t wear borrowed undergarments for our wedding anymore. And we don’t carry garlic and dill in our wedding bouquets anymore to ward off bad smell from our bodies. This shows how lucky modern grooms are! Most of the wedding traditions from the list below are forgotten and out of use or at least altered to suit modern days. And it’s so much more interesting to learn about them.


# 1

The first wedding tradition is that weddings were always to be held on a weekday and actually holding a wedding on Saturday was bad luck. Today, nobody wants their wedding on a weekday, any bride would do just about anything to have her wedding ceremony on a weekend. So, for us, this tradition seems a little weird.

# 2

Receptions were kind of an optional thing and most people didn't even have wedding receptions, even as late as the early 1960s. Just imagine what your friends and family would say if you didn’t have a wedding party these days! I’m sure half of your relatives would be deadly offended.

# 3

The point of a bridal bouquet was not to just have pretty flowers in your hand – it was actually a deodorant. It was a necessary accessory in the Middle Ages. Bribes would carry herbs with pungent scents like dill and garlic to ward off evil spirits. Also, they didn't bath very often back then and, apparently, it would help with their smell. And… this is awful. A bride that needs garlic to make her smell better! Really?!

# 4

Men were the only ones who were allowed to give toasts. At the time, women were not even allowed to give toasts. But this is understandable because we know that, back then, women really didn't have a very significant role in things, in general.

# 5

In about 1930s, wedding rings could only have one diamond. As for me, it’s a little odd – why does it matter how many diamonds there are in a ring? How can it influence marriage?

# 6

Only some brides were able to wear veils for their wedding ceremony. And these were only the brides that weren't too old. And, of course, those who were marrying for the first time. So, only young brides had the privilege of wearing a wedding veil. Also, in many countries, white bridal veil meant virginity, so only virgin girls could wear it.

# 7

Exactly one month before the wedding, the bride and groom would go to their wedding venue, dig a hole, and bury a bottle of bourbon there. It was supposed to ensure that there wouldn’t be any rain on your big day. And once you’ve done the ceremony, you were supposed to unbury the bourbon and drink it with your guests.

# 8

“Something borrowed” meant another woman's undergarment. According to an English folklore, the “something borrowed” part was meant to enhance the bride's fertility, meaning she would put on the underwear belonging to another woman, who already had been pregnant, in order to increase her likelihood of childbearing. Yeah, a little gross, isn’t it?

Also, I’ve heard about a tradition to drink from a glass after the pregnant woman to get pregnant yourself. So, maybe people believed that pregnancy was contagious?

# 9

Weddings had to happen in June. There's even a song that says a June bride is supposed to be the best bride.

“Oh, they say when you marry in June,
You're a bride all your life.
And the bridegroom who marries in June
Gets a sweetheart for a wife.”

# 10

When you are walking down the aisle, the only song that could be playing was the traditional “Here comes the bride” song. Today, it is ok for a bride to choose any song she likes and feels that this is it. And we are so lucky to be able to do that, to choose our favorite music for such an important day in our life.

You have no rights to post comments