Getting Married? Here Are a Few Wedding Party Traditions You Might Not Know

I now pronounce you man and wife…And they lived happily ever after.

It doesn’t get more romantic than that! Throughout time men and women have been joined together in matrimony to start a new family. Every culture has some form of marriage and wedding traditions to go along with it. Although the ceremony may be different it still means the same and that is the union of a man and woman to create a new family unit.

Each culture has its own form of celebrating the union of a man and woman. Every celebration from the beginning to the end is planned around individual culture and it’s traditions but, how did they start and what do they mean? All the celebrations have adapted with the changing times but each wedding tradition is filled with special meaning and some of their origins may be surprising.

The Wedding Cake
The original wedding cake would have been a pound cake, of sorts, that would be pounded and crumbled then tossed at the newlyweds as a sign of fertility, today we use rice. The layers on the wedding cake were another symbol of fertility and the number of layers represented how many children the couple hoped to have.

The wedding party originated during Roman times. The law required ten witnesses and the people combined this law with superstition. Evil spirits were believed to attend marriage ceremonies so the witnesses all dressed the same hoping to outsmart them.

In early times the groom might hunt for a bride from a nearby village and take his best friend to steal her away. Also known as the best man, his friend would stand beside him during the nuptials to protect him in case the brides’ family came looking for her.

The bridesmaids would accompany the willing bride to the grooms’ village to protect her from past suitors or ill wishers that may want to do her harm.

Modern marriage ceremonies may have changed but they are still bathed in tradition. These traditions are ones that will make it easier to plan your wedding day.
You can plan your own wedding and have it just the way you want. You could save thousands of dollars and you will know who you can turn to for a particular responsibility. Wedding guests will wonder who your planner was and you will find it so easy you may just change careers.

Make sure your wedding plans are easy to follow and use your wedding etiquette guide to delegate jobs that you simply won't have time to do. Let people know exactly how they can help and it's all spelled out in this easy to follow guide:

http://www.nearmania.com/etiquette/index.html