What's the History Behind All Those Crazy Wedding Traditions?

Societies have celebrated weddings for thousands of years, but the ceremonies of ancient Egypt or medieval Britain might be unrecognizable to today's bride and groom. Even the relatively simple weddings of our great-grandparents bear little resemblance to the pomp and circumstance of the society affairs and posh receptions favored by many 21^st-century couples. However, despite all the changes in the cultural celebrations of marriage, tradition continues to reign supreme. Superstition and long-established customs take hold of even the most skeptical bride, so nearly every ceremony contains some feature passed down from unions of the past.

One of the earliest wedding traditions just happens to be a first step down the road to marriage: the engagement ring. Egyptians saw the circle, since it has no end, as a symbol of eternity that would result in an eternal union. The ring also represented a contract, requiring a financial sacrifice by the groom and a promise from the bride. The hope was that a man wouldn't enter into such an agreement lightly if it meant paying for a ring, and a woman would live up to her end of the bargain to avoid having to return the ring given to her.

Diamond engagement rings became popular in 1477 when King Maximillian of Austria presented Mary of Burgundy with a diamond ring. The custom caught on since diamonds also have the symbolic significance of being the hardest and most enduring substance in nature, and hence would lead to marriages of similar fortitude.

There are two beliefs as to why engagement and wedding rings are worn on the third finger of the left hand. During a Christian wedding, the priest arrived at this finger - when starting with the thumb - after touching the three fingers on the left hand "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." The other possible reason for the rings being placed on this finger stems from the Egyptian belief that the ring finger follows the vena amoris - the vein of love that runs directly to the heart.

There are several traditions dictating a bride's attire on her wedding day. The well-known mantra of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in your shoe" is a rhyme that originated in Victorian England. The five items each have meaning. Something old signifies continuity. This item should be something passed down from a member of the bride's family, such as jewelry or a piece of cloth from a relative's wedding gown. Something new offers optimism and good fortune and is often an article of clothing or the wedding ring. Something borrowed should be something once worn by another happy bride at her wedding to bring luck to the marriage. A blue item on the wedding day dates to Biblical times and symbolizes fidelity and purity. The lesser-known "six pence in your shoe" represents wealth - both financial wealth and a wealth of happiness. Today's bride often places a dime in her shoe before the ceremony.

After the advent of arranged marriages, veils were used to prevent the groom from seeing his intended wife for the first time and not finding her satisfactory, causing him to leave her at the altar. Many veils were opaque, so that a bride couldn't see her groom and do the same. So it was not only symbolic for her father to give her away as a piece of property - as daughters were viewed in ages past - but it was necessary for the father to walk her down the aisle since she couldn't see where she was going. To this day, Jewish grooms ritually "veil the bride" - a tradition dating back to the marriage of Jacob to Leah, when he thought he was marrying his true love Rachel, but was tricked into marrying her older sister. Brides in ancient Greece and Rome wore veils to ward off evil spirits.

Bridesmaids and ushers offered even more protection against evil. Attendants used to wear clothes identical to the bride and groom to confuse mischief-seeking spirits. Eventually, brides felt the need to stand out from the crowd, but the tradition of all her attendants remains - much to the dismay of bridesmaids everywhere who have been forced to wear less-than-flattering dresses.

After the ceremony, the popular tradition of cutting the wedding cake takes place. Romans saw this as a symbol of fertility and would bake a cake of wheat or barley then break it over the bride's head. All the guests would then scramble to eat the crumbs as they symbolized good luck. The size of the cake also was a display of the bride's popularity because guests brought layers of cake to the reception. These were then stacked on top of each other and the bride and groom had to kiss over the top of the cake without knocking them down. If the couple succeeded, it meant a lifetime of prosperity. The Greeks believed that cutting the cake together would ensure a fruitful life. It was also thought that if the bride kept a piece of her cake, she would have a loving and faithful husband. This is still a good-luck practice today as couples save the top tier of their cake until their first wedding anniversary.

The meaning behind the rituals may be unknown by most modern brides and grooms, but certain traditions continue to live on as the legacy of loving couples passed down through the ages.