What You Should Know About Wedding Traditions

At BridalArticles.ca, we found this great newsworthy article on lastyleunveiled.com titled: “Jesi Haack On: Wedding Traditions … Something Old and Something New” to share with you.  Read on, and follow the links to get more useful information.

We know how excited you are to see that we have another fabulous addition to our ever growing library of Jesi Haack articles … We feel as lucky as you do!!!  We won’t try to bore you with a long intro … just know that this one is incredibly awesome and goes from ripping a bride’s dress of in the ‘days of yore’ to what the weddings will be like in the year of The Jetsons … oh, yeah … she totally went there   Hugs and kisses to our lovely gal, Jesi Haack … and now, here she goes!!

Remember this?

You walk into the old, grand church.  Candelabras compete with the paper bells that line the aisle.  The bride floats down the aisle in a chiffon beaded lace gown with sleeves puffier than Puff Daddy’s cheeks.  Her veil covers her face creating a feeling of mystery and innocence.  Immediately following the ceremony the guests are invited into the reception hall for a formal, sit down dinner of rubber chicken and dry rice.  The bride’s parents welcome their guests.  The guests pretend to enjoy their chicken.  The groom delicately leads his bride on a romantic journey around the dance floor. The father sweetly clutches her as he guides his daughter around the dance floor.  She tosses her bouquet to her closest girlfriends that were dragged onto the dance floor by the DJ.  He pitches the garter to his closest guy friends who feel the need to act obnoxious to distract from the fact that they are being called out in front of 250 people for being single.  The five tiered wedding cake covered in huge butter cream flowers and topped with a ceramic bride and groom is cut, shared and served.  Rice fills the air as the newlyweds rush to their awaiting car, adorned with old tin cans, shoes, and streamers.

How about this?

You enter the meadow-esque ceremony area that is completely shaded by a lovely olive tree.  Huge chandeliers are hanging from its massive branches.  The bride approaches the groom eyeing him from under her bird cage veil and pintop hat that barely touches her nose.  Her teal feathered headpiece accents her raw silk gown that hugs her curves tightly.  Her bright turquoise pumps peek out from under the gown with each step.  The guests are invited from the ceremony meadow to the reception area that has been set up against the breathtakingly powerful backdrop of the mountain canyon.  The dance floor illuminates the surrounding beauty with its market lighting from above.  The guests are seated just in time to see the In N Out Burger truck pull up.  French-fry cups are passed around.  The ice cream sundae bar is opened and bombarded.  People are lauging.  The bride and groom appear to begin their romantic first dance.  Suddenly it turns into a horribly hilarious hip hop routine that is being filmed for a reality show on TLC.  The father-daughter dance is actually the niece-uncle dance because the bride was raised by her quirky Uncle Leon.  Instead of tossing her bouquet to the two single females in the room, she chooses to perform a crazy karaoke session with her college girlfriends (all married) to Like a Virgin by Madonna.   The guests line up to toss peacock feathers at the newly married couple as they ride away on their Segway, like the perfect final episode of Arrested Development.

Wow, times have changed, right?  Dictionary.com defines traditions as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation”.  Yes, I looked it up on the internet, not in the actual book.  I don’t even OWN an actual dictionary. So if traditions are passed down from generation to generation, how in the heck do they change?

Here is a peek as to how a few began:

Word has it that the practice of the tossing the bridal bouquet stems from an idea that was big in the 14th century.  It was considered a big deal-io to acquire a fragment of the bride’s clothing.  Guests would grab at her wedding dress in order to tear off pieces.  And even back then, with the poofy sleeved, overly beaded dresses, the brides ‘weren’t so into’ their dress getting destroyed.  They contemplated an alternative, hence, the custom of throwing personal articles was born.  Other sources describe the garter as representing the virginal girdle.  When the groom removed the garter, he was demonstrating publicly that the bride was relinquishing her virginal status.  (So that’s how the whole ‘machismo’ thing was born, eh?)  Another popular belief was that the bridesmaids and groomsmen would sneak up to the bride and groom’s bedroom for proof that the deed was accomplished.  Then they would take an item of the bride’s clothing for good luck, which was often the garter that was used to hold up the bride’s stockings.  Awkward?  Maybe.

Why do we NOT see our man before walking down the aisle?

Why are we expected to wear a rough, stiff piece of fabric in front of our faces?  Well, back in the day when marriages were arranged by the parents, a dowry was typically exchanged.  So, it made sense that the bride’s hotness scale was REAL important.  The family wanted to make sure the dude didn’t back out!  This is where ‘giving away of the bride’ originated.  The father literally gave the bride away at the ceremony and the groom would get his first peek after lifting the veil from her face!  How romantic…{sigh} (coughhhhh) or maybe more like an internet-dating scheme…

Cutting the cake? 

During the days of the Roman Empire wedding cakes were baked with wheat and barley.  At the reception they were broken over the head of the newlyweds (huh?) as a sign of the bride’s fertility (Whaa?).  Guests would scramble for the pieces of cake (ok, I would totally do that) and take them home for good luck.

Back to my original question:  Why and HOW do traditions change?  I believe that even way back in the day, couples were gaining a ‘sense of self.’  Even in the midst of their parents choosing their mates, their society telling them how to celebrate, and their religion regulating their union, they were fighting to show their own personality.  They struggled to make their own statement.  To stand out.  To be remembered.  To illustrate their love, relationship, and personality to their guests.  So today, when we want the In N Out truck instead of the sit down dinner that our mother’s want, it is, essentially, the same as choosing to throw the garter instead of letting the guests tear apart their dress.

Where will these traditions be when 2009 is considered ‘back in the day’?

The spectrum of change is never-ending.  We are unique, quirky, and truly individualistic beings who will always be striving to make our own mark in the world.  Ask yourself, “What STATEMENT do I want to make to my guests?” … And make that statement from YOU, not from your mom, your grandma, or any website you have been stalking.  Do something different.  Be unique.  Surprise your guests.  Create something unexpected.  Do the opposite of tradition.  Create your own tradition.  Be remembered for YOU.

And when ‘The Jetson’s’ world becomes our society’s reality, be the first bride to be brought into your ceremony in an airplane car, have robots as your wedding party, and offer TONS of different food ‘pills’ at the buffet 

~ jesi haack

Read more from the source: http://lastyleunveiled.com/thelounge/2009/10/19/jesi-haack-on-wedding-traditions-something-old-and-something.html