The average wedding is chalk full of traditions that everyone follows but few understand.
Most of us don鈥檛 even think twice about these traditions. We just include them in our wedding and forget about it.
To give you a better grip on these interesting and unique wedding traditions, we鈥檝e listed a few of the most common that might show up on your wedding day.
Table of Contents
The Truth About Your 鈥淩ing鈥 Finger
When he got down on his knee to ask you to spend the rest of your life together, he placed that ring on your fourth finger on your left hand.
Why? Because the fourth finger on your left hand was once believed to connect directly to your heart via the love vein. Crazy, right?
Sapphires Hold Special Meaning
Did your beau get you a sapphire wedding ring? If so, it represents marriage happiness, according to a long line of symbols associated with jewels. Men, listen up!
Why You Wear a Veil
It was once believed by the Romans and Greeks that a bride is protected from evil spirits on her wedding day by a veil. Sorry ladies, it originally had very little to do with wedding day style.
Something Blue, Something Old
On your wedding day, you鈥檒l probably try to find something borrowed, blue and old to wear. You wear blue to represent fidelity, love, and purity. You wear something old to join the past with the present and future. We love this tradition!
Cut The Cake: Break The Loaf?
Romans used to break bread over a bride鈥檚 head in hopes of increasing her fertility. Over the past 2,000 years, that鈥檚 turned into cutting the wedding cake!
Tying The Knot
From the Hindus to the Celtic, tying a bride and groom鈥檚 hands together has been a symbolic gesture of eternal commitment to one another as a newly married couple. This act has led to the phrase we know today as 鈥渢ying the knot.鈥
The Protective Groom & Groomsmen
Countless cultures throughout history have promoted the act of the groom kidnapping the bride with the help of the groom鈥檚 friend, or groomsmen! Also, when standing at the alter, the groom would always stand to the bride鈥檚 right side, keeping his sword hand free in case of jealous attackers.
Tossing the Garter & Bouquet
Before our traditional garter and bouquet toss, wedding guests used to tear off a part of a bride鈥檚 dress for good luck safekeeps. Now, we throw these items at our guests for the same reason.
Bridesmaids Dresses
The Romans believed that evil spirits would curse new couples. To throw them off their tracks, the Romans decided to have bridesmaids dress exactly like the bride to confuse them. Today, bridesmaids wear similar dresses to the bride.
The Reason for June Weddings
We can blame the Romans for this one too. June is such a popular month to get married in because the Roman Goddess Juno is also known as the mother of marriage and childbirth.
Honeymoons
The Honeymoon is a Norse tradition. Brides and grooms would hide after their wedding and a family member would bring them honey wine to drink for a whole moon cycle. Which gives us the term 鈥渉oneymoon.鈥
Those are just a few of the wedding traditions you should know about!
