When people refer to a Traditional wedding I wonder if they know what they are really asking for. The wedding ceremony as we know it has evolved over the years and many of the traditions that we observe have meanings that are unknown to the bride and groom.

In days gone by the father would exchange his daughter for land or currency. In fact, the Anglo-Saxon word “wedd” meant that the groom would vow to marry the bride and that the bartered goods and/or currency would go directly to the bride’s father. The wedding ceremony was simply the purchase of a bride for breeding purposes.

Giving away the bride is today a sign of the father giving his blessing – but traditional was literally what it says. The daughter was the property of her father and so at her wedding he gave her away.

The bride stands on the Grooms left as this frees up the Grooms right hand to defend his lady with his sword and hold onto her with his left hand. The brides family support her by sitting on the left hand side of the church.

Bridesmaids were dressed in a similar fashion to the bride to fool the evil spirits that may be lurking to pounce on the unsuspecting bride. As time passed the chief bridesmaid took on responsibility for the brides bouquet, the decoration at the subsequent feast and dressing the bride. The Best Man dates back to the Anglo Saxon times when men would capture their brides and a “ best man” was needed at his side to fight off the brides family who would defend her.

Bells were rung at the church to ward off the evil spirits from the ceremony and an Arch of swords at the end for the same reason . It was a symbol of the couple walking through a door into a new part of their life and the swords would see off the evil spirits.

During the ceremony the ring goes on the third finger of the left hand as the Romans believed that the vein on this finger runs straight through to the heart. The marriage is sealed with a kiss. Many think that this is a romantic gesture introduced by the church – wrong!! The Romans sealed all legal contracts with a kiss though I am sure they weren’t the same as some of the full bloodied ones that I have witnessed over the years.

Onto the reception and we have a wedding cake which was a fertility symbol in ancient Rome and would be broken over the brides head!! The Anglo Saxons guests used to bring small cakes to the feast and these were laid on top of the original cake to make up the tiers. The Bride and Groom then cut the cake as this is to guard against infertility.