Western Wedding Traditions and Where They Come From
There are many customs in society that people simply take for granted and thus barely even consider why it is done or how it originated. The western wedding ceremony, for example, is considerably replete with somewhat ridiculous ritual that few seem to really understand at all, other than that it is just “how it’s done”. Ironically many of the rituals being performed by devout Christians in a Christian church and ceremony are essentially based on Pagan beliefs.
Thankfully sometimes it is an elegant ritual and equally thankfully some of the rituals are just plain fun. It is likely that any ritual not fitting either the elegant beauty category or the fun category would have been phased out long ago and is thus no longer being practiced today. There are likely countless marriage rituals in various cultures which have long since been forgotten due to their disuse. Let’s look at some of the more popular traditional western rituals that are still being practiced today and perhaps see just why they have stayed around so long.
The throwing of rice is an interesting ritual of the kind that is very popular in animist or Pagan cultures as it is essentially a ritual of fertility. Rice is a seed and it doesn’t take a far stretch of the imagination to see just what showering handfuls of white seed on a newlywed couple is symbolic of. Perhaps if the couple isn’t planning on children then they can bypass this ritual, although it likely comes in handy for all of their creative endeavors in general so it is likely best to go for it. Besides, it’s possibly the most fun of all wedding rituals. Do consider the pigeons and plan accordingly for their safety.
The wedding bouquet itself
Pages: 1 2