Boutonnieres
January 23, 2011
Why does the groom have to wear a boutonniere? Dating back to the medieval times a knight would wear his ladys colors with using different coloured flowers, this would display his love for her. Traditionally, the boutonniere would have been worn over his heart, displaying his fidelity and love for his wife-to-be. The whole tradition of the boutonniere and bouquet, originated to ward off bad smells, dieses and evil spirits (Im noticing a pattern here .. All of the traditions Ive come across are to ward off evil spirits).
The boutonniere should compliment the brides-maids boutiques. The word boutonniere obviously derives from the French language. meaning flower worn in a buttonhole. The British refer to it as button hole flowers. The flowers would be commonly be put in the button holes of a mans suit or tuxedo.
However, modern day tradition involves you pinning the boutonniere to the lapel of a mans suit or tuxedo. There was a time, when men would wear flowers in their button whole daily. But now, our cultures reserve this tradition strictly for weddings or grad.
When choosing flowers you can choose from Roses, Orchids, Stephanotis, Tulips, Callas, but not limited to these options.
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The Wedding Cake
January 8, 2010
The tradition dates back to ancient Romans, they would take a thin loaf of bread and break it over the brides head. This had become an important part of the wedding tradition and was the conclusion to the ceremony. The loaf had to be made with wheat and it symbolized fertility. The guest would scurry to pick up crumbs of the loaf, because it was considered good luck.
Eventually, a similar tradition was implement in Britain. The wedding guests would bring little cakes with them to the reception and stack them, on the reception tables, using them as a center piece. A baker, who came up with the idea to cover these little cakes with frosting, establishing the modern tiered cake, soon replaced this.
The bride and groom cut the cake first, signifying their future life together. They feed each other a piece of cake, which is considered their first meal as husband and wife. Also, this was viewed as breaking of the kinship. The brides knife signifies the new wife is ready to take on the role as keeper of her new home. Every guest has to eat at least a crumb of the cake, giving good luck and fertility to the newly married couple.
Another funny tradition, is a single woman takes a piece of the wedding cake and sleeps with it under her pillow. Its said that shell dream of her future husband. You can mention this tradition to all your single friends that didnt catch the boutique :)
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Wedding Traditions
December 27, 2010
When you finally make the decision to tie the knot, you are overwhelmed with all kinds of traditions from friends to strangers. But what's the point of a tradition unless you understand the meaning behind it? There's no substance or obligation to maintain these traditions unless your educated on it and make a decision to implement it. I'm going to post different traditions as time goes on.
The first tradition is the Wedding Veil:
When I got married a few years ago, I told my mom "I'll wear a veil, BUT, I won't cover my face walking down the alter". She got angry and told me that I have to, but I insisted that I wasn't going to wear it. Eventually, someone came to me with some reasoning for wearing a veil over my face and I found it useful because in the end I did cover my face.
In ancient Rome, the tradition was the take the brides hair twist it, spike it and hold it with wax. The bride would also wear a red veil from head to toe. This was to ward off demons and maintain her purity solely for her husband. In ancient Greece, the veil was yellow and again they wore the veil from head to toe.
It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride right? Traditionally, weddings were arranged between the groom and the bride's father. The groom rarely saw his bride until after the ceremony. The groom wasn't allowed to lift the brides veil until she became his wife. Also, by the groom lifting the veil this signified his masculence and the wife's submission to him.
It's also said that wearing the veil wards off "the evil eye" and proctects you (this was why I decided to cover my face with the veil, I didn't want anyones eveil eye on me!!)
