Our greater population and the habits of the American people encourage frequent migration. Many of us do not live in the same city where we were born. So it’s far more likely that the bride and groom come from far different neighborhoods, cities and even states. Chances are their parents didn’t meet for the first time until after they became engaged.
Of course, there are exceptions to everything and I know plenty of couples who’ve known each other since childhood and my husband and I grew up in the same area – but it’s so urban that while we knew plenty of the same people – we never met until we lived in a different community and state altogether.
The Melting Pot
America made famous the statement of being a melting pot and that is just as true today with the mobile society as it was with the immigrant society that founded the country. Our forefathers came here from different social, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Those differences are highlights in the American style and conscience.
With so many differences and backgrounds coming together in engagements, wedding planning and marriages – we have a buffet of options and a diet of fantastic flavors. Our culture has a lot of theories, hypotheses and ideas that present themselves.
Where We Came From
It’s a good idea to know where we came from so we know where we are going. The following customs are seasonings in our melting pot. Once upon a time, it was a custom to break bread over the heads of the groom and the bride as they left their ceremony. The unmarried youths present would scramble to eat some to give themselves a great chance at a good match as well.
Neat tradition, eh?
Guns used to be fired in the air in salute of the bride and groom. In our suburban areas, most of our neighbors prefer the horns we honk in our cars rather than gunfire in the streets. Still – it’s funny that I never knew firing a gun could be a wedding tradition – gives a whole new meaning to shotgun weddings.
Once upon a time, it was traditional for the bride and groom to spend their wedding night in a barn. The bridesmaids would get the bride ready and the groom would be harangued until he was finally let in with her. Peeping and pranks were all a part of the ritual until the night ended.
Let me tell you that is not a tradition worth encouraging the return of.
A Penny in the Shoe
Still, despite all of those rather interesting customs – we have clung to a great deal more. One of the best ones is the rhyme: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a silver sixpence in her shoe. It’s sentimental and it’s wonderful and it’s fun. The sixpence in the shoe honors where we came from and where we are going; it’s about luck.
Your something old could be handed down from a mother or a grandmother. Your something new can be handed down in turn to your daughter or your grandmother. Your something borrowed can be a treasured item from a friend, a sister or even the groom’s mother and incorporating the traditions from your future husband’s family.
Following my wedding, I had my wedding dress preserved. I thought it would be neat to have it for my daughter to be able to choose it as an option when and if the day comes that she gets married. If not her – then perhaps one of her children – and whether it is ever worn again or not – I have a piece of my past to hand down to my children. I wore my grandmother’s pearls for my wedding and even though she couldn’t be there with me physically, I felt like she was.
Making Your Own Luck
Our history gives us a place to start. It tells us where we came from and can guide us to where we are going. The bride and groom shouldn’t see each other before the wedding to avoid bad luck. But the measure luck advice does not end there. But when it’s all said and done and the ceremony is over, the couple will be announced as man and wife – they should leave the wedding venue by walking a different route than either arrived on. They came in one way and they go out another – where two paths joined, only one exits and they don’t go back to where they came from – they go forward to their future.
Don’t forget the deadline for our Want to a Win a Wedding DVD is tonight at midnight! Have a great Friday!
Related Articles:
Wedding on a Budget: Affordable Invitations