Wedding Customs   by trevorm

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Wedding Customs and Traditions

Our modern Western wedding customs are an integral part of our culture. We all know that the bride dresses in white, that we throw confetti after the service and that the bride and groom go on a honeymoon.
 
But why?

Why do we do these things? Where did the customs and traditions originate? What do they mean? 

On this page I'm going to explain a little about a few of the most well-known such customs. You can find out more about these and many others at the Wyrdology Wedding site.

 

Photo Credit: babasteve (Creative Commons)

The White Dress 

Why Does The Bride Wear White?

Today we think of the white bridal gown as a symbol of purity and innocence. It didn't used to be that way.

White certainly used to be a symbol of joy however it was only one of many colours to be worn at weddings. Almost any colour except black or red was used for the wedding dress. Blue was very common, as was green in Ireland.

The white bridal gown tradition really began with Queen Victoria. She wore white for her marrage in 1840. Since Victoria was a trend-setting celeb of her day, white instantly became the colour in which to be married. And so it remains today.

Photo Credit: thenestor (Creative Commons)

Confetti 

Why Do We Throw Confetti?

When you stop to think about it, throwing coloured pieces of paper over a newly married couple is a rather silly thing to do. Especially if you're one of the people who has to clean it up - many wedding venues have now banned the throwing of confetti.

Confetti probably harks back to the older pagan tradition of throwing rice, which was considered a fertility symbol. Modern confetti was invented in the late 19th century - once again, the custom originates with the Victorians.

The Honeymoon 

What Is A Honeymoon?

Few people stop to think about the word Honeymoon. What does it mean?

Honey Moon. Honey Month. Sweet Month. Obvious really. The Gaelic for Honeymoon is even more literal - mi na meala means "month of honey".

Honey also referred to the sweet drink mead and some lucky couples would be given a month's supply of mead after the wedding.

Gretna Green 

Elopement Destination

In Britain, Gretna Green is known as the place to which young lovers would once flee in order to get married. Why?

The Union between Scotland and England is relatively new and there are still significant differences between the legal systems. In the 19th century England passed a law requiring parental consent for marriage under the age of 21.

Scotland had no such law. So young people wanting to get married against the wishes of their parents would elope to Scotland.

Why Gretna Green? Was it the most romantic place in the country?

Not exactly. It simply happened to be the first stop in Scotland for most of the cross-border stagecoaches!

Learn More 

For more symbolism, customs and traditions, please visit weddings at Wyrdology.

Thanks For Visiting 

Thanks for reading, if you've enjoyed this lens please take a second to rate it using the stars at the top of the page. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below. Or make your own page and show me how it should be done!

ladyjulia

Excellent. Well written and informative.

Posted November 19, 2007

Look who made this lens!

trevorm

The Lensmaster

Hi, I'm Trevor and I live in Edinburgh - the capital of Scotland.

I'm interested in a wide variety of things and love learning. I intend to write a similarly wide var...

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