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family in an attempt to recapture her traditionally the bride stands to the left side of the groom this was much more than meaningless etiquette among the northern european barbarians a name given to them by the romans a groom placed his captured bride to his left to protect her as he kept his right hand free to use for defense also originating from this practice of abduction which literally swept a bride off her feet sprang the later symbolic act of carrying the bride across the threshold of her new home and speaking of carrying the bride over the threshold tradition dictates that the bride must never trip and fall as she enters her new home or she will have bad luck for all the years to come it may well be that even the honeymoon had its origin with this capture scenario it may have served as a cooling off period for the bride s family it was the groom s hope that when the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon all would be forgiven an entirely different theory says that the honeymoon is based in babylonia about 4 000 years ago tradition held that the bride s father would supply his new son in law with all the mead honey beer wine that the young man could drink their calendar was lunar based and as it turned out this tradition called the honey month was just about the the time it took the groom to consume his gift ultimately this period of time just after the wedding became known as the honeymoon the infamous kidnaping of the bride soon turned into a fun ritual the bride surrounded herself with maids who dressed identically in a symbolic attempt to confuse the groom and his accomplices bridesmaids and ushers have their roots in roman law which prescribed that ten witnesses be present at a wedding to fool evil spirits who it was believed were in attendance at marriages with the purpose of causing mischief and disharmony the bridesmaids and ushers were instructed to dress identically to the bride and groom in order to confuse the evil spirits who presumably would then not know who was really getting married the bridal gown has always been a symbol of purity and was in history an outward sign of a maiden s worthiness the concept of a white wedding gown dates back to queen victoria marriage was considered a union between two families and it was essential that the bride be an honor to both purity was valued above all else and so great care was taken to ensure that the bride be presented as an unspoiled protected and valuable treasure so the white dress became the symbol of all these things and a symbol of the bride to be s innocence the elaborate styling of modern wedding gowns can be attributed to empress eugenie the bride of napoleon iii she was quite the fashion plate of her generation and wore what was to become worldwide style replacing the customary wedding finery of the day it was thought that the white wedding gown also served to ward off evil spirits omens and evil spirits and good luck tokens were always a part of the wedding gown tradition it was said that the bride should never make her own dress and should wait to have the last stitch sewn until just before she entered the church it was also a popular traditon that the bride should not try on her complete wedding outfit before the wedding day or it was felt she would be counting her chickens before they hatched traditional bows or love knots which resemble a number eight on its side originated in the late 1500 s the sideways eight you will note is also the sign for infinity i e eternity in years past brides wore dresses covered with love knots and after the wedding guests would snip them off as souvenirs the bridal bouquet had its earliest beginnings as a bunch of fragrant herbs who job it was to discourage evil spirits from getting close to the bride it started not as a bouquet but with greeks and romans as a garland of fresh herbs which the bride wore in her hair in victorian times the flowers in a bride s bouquet carried messages because each flower had its own special meaning the practice of the bride tossing her bouquet before she leaves on her wedding trip is said to have started in the 14th century when getting a piece of the bride s clothing was considered good luck in those days the bride was treated poorly guests would grab at her wedding dress in order to tear off pieces of it although brides continued to believe they would not be wearing their wedding gowns again they objected to its wanton destruction instead of allowing guests to tear at their gowns brides found an alternative and instead started to throw personal items such as the garter to the guests today the groom removes and tosses the garter while the bride tosses her bouquet the unmarried man who catches the garter is asked to put it on the leg of the unmarried woman who catches the bouquet it is said that they will be the next to marry not necessarily each other yet another version tells us that the garter had a very practical beginning when silk stockings were standard garb this accessory was a necessity this version of the customs origin tells us that the tradition of stealing the garter began in england young men took this pre ceremony procedure quite seriously as it was considered very good luck to win the prize to avoid embarrassing the bride the custom evolved from stealing the garter into throwing the garter the groom s boutonniere is a nod to medieval times when a knight wore his lady s colors proudly displayed for all to see the flower girl and the tradition of walking before the bride and tossing petals date back to old english tradition it was customary then that the entire bridal party would walk behind a small girl as she tossed flowers all the way to the church the wedding veil has a bit eerier history it is a tradition believed to have developed from the roman custom of having the bride wear a full length veil that was later used as her burial shroud and back to that capture theme another theory is that the veil is reminiscent of the act of throwing a sack over the prospective bride s head while she was being carried off roman superstition also held that wearing a veil would confuse the evil spirits that loomed near the bride it was said that the spirits might be jealous of the new couple s happiness and that covering the bride s face would keep them from recognizing her and yet another explanation in ancient times marriages were arranged by families and were often nothing more than good business deals it happened more often than not that the first time the couples saw one another was standing at the altar on their wedding day to ensure the groom wouldn t have second thoughts at the sight of a bride perhaps less attractive than he s assumed veils were used to cover the bride s face the veil was not lifted until the very end of the ceremony only after the groom had already said i do this may also be the reason why traditionally the bride and groom are not allowed to see each other the day of the wedding some traditions are rooted in superstition and closely connected with good and bad luck one superstition proports that it is bad luck for a groom to see his bride on their wedding day another also well know superstition is the tradition of something old something new something borrowed something blue and a lucky sixpence in her shoe this most familiar of wedding related sayings dates back to victorian times something old symbolizes the connection the bride will maintain to her family and the past many brides abide by this tradition by choosing to wear an heirloom piece of family jewelry or the wedding gown belonging to a grand mother or mother something new connotes good fortune and success in the bride s new life the wedding dress is most often the chosen new item something borrowed serves to remind the bride that friends and family will be there for her whenever she may need their support or assistance the borrowed object can be most anything of her choosing such as an antique handkerchief an item of jewelry or a handbag something blue denotes faithfulness and loyalty the symbolism dates back to biblical times when blue represented purity and constancy brides often choose to wear a blue garter to keep with this tradition or blue ribbons in their hair to symbolize fidelity a silver sixpence in her shoe represents the wishes of loved ones to the bride in the hope that she will have both financial security and happiness and then there is the kiss at the end of the wedding ceremony in ancient times the kiss was legally binding and signified mutual acceptance of the contract of marriage it is said that the bride and the groom exchanged a bit of their souls with the breath of a kiss with the ceremony concluded the bride and groom have tied the knot an expression which dates back to when in ancient times the bride and groom literally were tied at the waist with wreathes to signify that they had been united another piece of bridal lore tells us that in ancient roman times women wore girdles made from long strips of material buttons hooks and snaps having not yet been invented the girdles were tied in knots to keep them secure on a bride s wedding day the bride s attendants made sure the knots were tied well and could be untied easily on the wedding night throwing rice and old shoes at the end of the ceremony is a custom that has its origin with the ancient assyrians hebrews and egyptians who gave or traded sandals as a symbol of good faith when striking a bargain in the case of marriage the bargain was the transfer of a father s authority over his daughter to her new husband the bride s father would give the groom one of her old shoes and the groom would tap the bride over the head with it that act symbolized the groom s acceptance of his new responsibility there is reference to rice throwing in roman history in about 400 b c then a bridegroom would say goodbye to his bachelorhood by distributing walnuts to his old friends that makes walnuts and hazelnuts the forerunners of today s rice and almonds other sources make reference to the tradition in tudor times of guests throwing shoes at the newly married couple presumably this was done with good intentions because it was thought to bring good luck and fertility to the bride and groom if they or their carriage were hit this incidentally is where the custom of tying old shoes to back of the car may have originated yet other theories tell us that the tradition of tying shoes to the bumper of the car originated with bride stealing as a sign of his anger the bride s father would throw his shoes at the kidnapper groom with the stolen bride incidentally it was also believed that leather had the power to ward off evil spirits to the ancient assyrians hebrews and egyptians rice symbolized fruitfulness so it was a natural to be thrown at the new couple after weddings as a symbol of good wishes the origin of throwing confetti over the newlyweds goes back to the pagan rite of showering the couple with grain as a symbol of fruitfulness pagans held the simple belief that the fertility of the seeds would be transferred to the couple the symbolism of throwing rice holds same symbolic meaning beginning in the middle ages rice became a symbol of fruitfulness amongst many early peoples the tradition of throwing of rice may also have been a way to ward off evil spirits that hung around near the bride and groom it may also have its origins in the food tossing ritual discussed elsewhere in this article in italian the word confetti comes from the same root word as confectionery and actually refers to sweetmeats grain and nuts that are covered in sugar and thrown at the newlyweds more recently we substituted paper confetti but today most ceremony sites don t allow confetti because of the cleanup nightmare so wedding bubbles now offer an environmentally safe alternative the concept of a reception originated in france and is based on the old custom known as a charivari shiff a ree traditionally friends would figure out where the newlyweds were spending their wedding night they would gather under their window to sing blow horns and make as much noise as possible to keep the couple awake the clinking of glasses creates a bell like noise in years past and by those who are superstitious yet today that noise is said to repel the devil many couples today follow the ritual of kissing as glasses are clinked taking the opportunity to connect when the devil is not around to create havoc the custom of a first dance harkens back to ancient times when the bride kidnapper would show off his hunting skills by parading his stolen bride around in front of his warrior friends so they could see how well he had done the feasting would begin immediately after this display today the first dance still traditonally marks the beginning of the reception a wedding cake is the traditional centerpiece at the wedding reception you might find it interesting that originally the cake was not eaten by but thrown at the bride it developed as one of the many fertility traditions surrounding a wedding ancient romans believed that wheat and barley were symbols of fertility and so wedding cakes included one or both of these ingredients incidentally wheat was among the earliest grains predating rice to be ceremoniously showered on the bride and groom in its earliest origins the unmarried young women attending the wedding were expected to scramble for the grains to ensure their own betrothals much as they do today for the bridal bouquet somewhere around 100 b c e roman bakers began creating small sweet cakes with it the tradition of pelting the bride or breaking it over her head died hard the roman poet and philosopher lucretius in on the nature of things de rerum natura wrote that the throwing tradition mellowed into a custom of crumbling the sweet wheat cakes over the bride s head as a further symbol of fertility the couple was required to eat some of the crumbs a custom known as confarreato translated into eating together after all the cakes were used up the guests were supplied with handfuls of confetto a sweet meats mixture of nuts dried fruit and honeyed almonds the tradition of eating the crumbs of the wheat sweet meat cakes spread throughout europe in england the tradition broadened to include the practice of washing down the cakes with a special ale called bryd ealu translated as bride s ale words that eventually became the word bridal in the middle ages when food tossing became rice tossing the once decorative sweet meat cakes evolved into small biscuits or scones guests were encouraged to byob bake bring your own biscuit with them to the ceremony after the wedding leftovers were distributed among the poor it is those very simple biscuits and scones that became the forerunner of the elaborate multi tiered wedding cake we know today legend has it that throughout the british isles it became customary to pile the biscuits scones and baked goodies on top of one another in one huge h...