FUN FACTS
Definitions
• Bridesmaids
• Flower Girl
• Best Man
• Groomsmen
• Maid/Matron Of Honor
• Ring Bearer
• Ushers
Definitions
• Veil Bridesmaids
You may have up to 12 bridesmaids (depending on the size and formality of the wedding). The bridesmaids pay for their own gowns, share the responsibility for the shower, contribute to bride's gift from all bridesmaids and attend the rehearsal and dinner.
Flower Girl
This young lady carries the basket of flowers down the aisle or sprinkles flower petals down the aisle for the bride to walk upon.
He walks down the aisle with the maid/matron of honor and stands next to the groom during the ceremony. He holds the bride's ring until the
Officiant asks for it and he signs the marriage certificate as a legal witness. At the reception, he proposes the first toast to the bride and groom.
These friends or relatives of the groom walk with the bridesmaids down the aisle. They pay for their own attire rental.
Before the wedding, she helps with addressing the invitations and plans the bridal shower. On the big day, the maid or matron of honor helps the bride get ready, adjusts her train and veil during the ceremony, holds the groom's ring and the bride's bouquet, and signs the marriage certificate as a witness.
He carries the ring pillow down the aisle. He can walk with the flower girl or after her.
These gentlemen lead all the guests to their seats and unroll the aisle runner before the processional. You should have one usher for every 50 guests.
Traditions
For ancient Greeks and Romans, the bouquet was a pungent mix of garlic and herbs or grains. The garlic was supposed to ward off evil spirits and the herbs or grains were to insure a fruitful union. In ancient Poland, it was believed that sprinkling sugar on the bride's bouquet kept her temper sweet.
The wedding cake has always played an important part in the wedding. Ancient Romans broke a cake over the bride's head to symbolize fertility or abundance. Many other cultures dropped wheat, flour or cake on the bride's head, and then ate the crumbs for good luck. The early British baked baskets of dry crackers and every guest took one home after the wedding. In medieval times, guests brought small cakes and piled them on a table. The bride and groom then attempted to kiss over the cakes. Eventually, a young baker decided to put all the cakes together and cover them with frosting, thus the tiered wedding cake was born.
Traditionally, brides did not wear white wedding gowns. Through the 18th century, most brides just wore their Sunday best to their wedding. Red was a favorite during the Middle Ages in Europe. Other colors were worn for symbolic reasons: blue meant constancy and green meant youth. As years passed, white was worn as a symbol of purity. Today, white merely symbolizes the wedding and is worn by any bride, no matter if it is their second marriage.
The first kiss a bride and groom share at the close of the ceremony has carried special significance through the centuries. Many cultures believed that the couple exchanged spirits with their breath and part of their souls were exchanged as well.
The first weddings comprised of a groom taking his bride by capture. He would take her somewhere hidden away so her relatives and villagers couldn't find them. There they stayed for one moon phase and drank mead, a wine make from honey, to make them more amorous. Thus, the word "honeymoon" was born. Today, the honeymoon is the time when the couple can get away for awhile.
The wedding ring has traditionally been worn on the third finger of the left hand because it was believed that a vein in this finger ran directly to the heart. The third finger of the left hand has become the customary wedding-ring finger for all English-speaking cultures.
One of the oldest wedding traditions, the custom of throwing rice, originated with the ancient Hindus and Chinese. In these cultures, rice is the symbol of fruitfulness and prosperity. Tossing it after the ceremony was believed to bestow fertility upon the bride and groom. Eating rice and other grains was thought to guarantee health, wealth and happiness for the newlyweds. Today, rice tossing is being replaced by the more ecologically friendly birdseed tossing, because uncooked rice is damaging to birds that eat it off the church lawn.
Mystique and romance has surrounded the veil for more than one thousand years. Originally, the veil is thought to have been used to hide the bride from abductors, just as the similar dress of her bridesmaids was meant to do. But a more romantic interpretation evolved later which believed that concealment (as the bride's face beneath a veil) rendered what was hidden more valuable. Another early interpretation of the veil was that it symbolized youth and virginity.
