Mysterious Origins
Weddings can be elaborate, expensive affairs; and some are so intricate they require the assistance of a hired planner to successfully orchestrate. But this has not always been the case. Let’s take a little journey back in time and peek in on a few earlier versions of nuptial practices and how some elements have evolved into modern traditions.
In early days, marriages had nothing at all to do with love. Rather, they were unions of necessity more than anything else. The largest tribe tended to be the most successful, so any measures that could be taken to increase the tribe were considered not only proper, but expected of any man worth his share of mammoth meat. In these situations the bride was often captured from a neighboring tribe and carried off. Being a decidedly risky operation, the groom needed the assistance of his friends to help battle off her enraged relatives. These same friends stood at his side during the marriage ritual, weapons at the ready to fend off any last minute rescue attempts. Hence, the tradition of the best man and ushers was born. This scenario also explains the practice of carrying the bride over the threshold, as proceedings thus far hardly sound agreeable. I don’t think we’d be going out on a limb by supposing the bridal coiffure to be in a state of marked disarray by the end of her wedding day.
After all of this tumult, the groom would usually disappear with his new bride for a while giving tempers time to cool and the situation to be accepted and more-or-less gotten over. This early “honeymoon” certainly looks quite a bit different than today’s trip to Niagara Falls.
Over time, barbarity gave way to civilization (to a certain extent) and marriage came to be viewed in terms of money, and political or social gain. Enter the arranged marriage. As women were pretty much considered property of the male head of the household, here is where the father giving away the bride comes into play.
In those days, it was BYOC (bring your own cake) or biscuit, really. These were typically heaped in a pile until the time was ripe for them to be grabbed by the celebrants, bitten into and the remainder hurled higgledy-piggledy at the happy fleeing couple. All the tasty morsels that fell to the ground were hurriedly scrambled after by young maids and rapidly devoured as this was seen as a measure of luck toward making a happy union for themselves. This eyebrow raising exercise thankfully evolved into the more flattering tradition of throwing the bridal bouquet. Another surprising result of this practice was the invention of the wedding cake. In the 1660’s a fastidious but unnamed French chef was appalled by the unsightly biscuit pile at a wedding and created the first multi-tiered wedding cake, single handedly installing one of the most well recognized icons of the modern wedding.
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