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The Twelve Ornaments of Christmas

There is a beautiful tradition that I read about recently that comes from a Bavarian custom called the Bride’s Tree. You might want to incorporate this tradition into your Christmas decorating or into your holiday wedding planning or in some other way. Maybe you’ll just read this and appreciate the beauty of the custom. Either way, I think this Bavarian custom really does hold some of the secrets to making a good and happy marriage.

So what goes into decorating a Bride’s Tree? According to customs, you want 12 molded glass ornaments that are made and given to the soon to be wed couple and each one is specifically designed to teach them a lesson about what is vital to build a good marriage between them. The decorations include:

  • An Angel – the angel is representative of God’s Guidance and for the couple that seeks a positive relationship with their divinity, the angel is said to unite their beliefs with the blessings of God
  • A Bird – the molded glass bird is the earthly representative of lifting up and soaring high upon wings and brings joy in the sense of freedom and love
  • The Fish – Often the symbol of a belief of in Christ, it’s representative of Christ’s blessing on the family and the marriage
  • A Flower Basket – Flowers have multiple meanings and a basket of flowers is often sent to someone celebrating or mourning, they offer good wishes
  • A Fruit Basket – What celebrates the bounty of the harvest better than a fruit basket? It also offers the message of generosity to the couple about to be wed
  • The Heart – This message should seem pretty direct because the heart represents true love
  • The House – The house is the shelter that we take from the elements and the house on the tree represents protection
  • The Pine Cone – Pine cones are planted and hopefully produce new life from the old and thus the pine cone represents fruitfulness
  • The Rabbit – You might think the rabbit is representative of fertility, but what is fertility but hope for the future and so the rabbit on this tree is for hope
  • The Rose – We give roses for love and for affection and here it is for affection
  • The teapot – We serve tea to our guests and invite them for tea to show our hospitality and thus the teapot offers the lesson of hospitality
  • Santa – the Santa is the twelfth ornament and as all our children know, he offers good will and the promise of more and so this twelfth ornament offers the lesson of good will

As you can see – the twelve ornaments of Christmas on the Bavarian Bride Tree really are a lesson in how to make a good marriage. Do you use ornaments to symbolize your marriage?

Related Articles:

The Art of Choosing a Christmas Tree: Our Family’s Tips

Christmas Eve Traditions for Couples

First Christmas as a Couple? Here’s an Idea!

Celebrating Your First Holiday Season Together?

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About Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. They have a beautiful daughter who just turned five years old. She is learning to read and preparing for kindergarten in the fall. An author of more than 300 articles and 500+ web copy pieces, Heather has also written three books as a ghostwriter. Empty Canoe Publishing accepted a novel of her own. A former horse breeder, Heather used to get most of her exercise outside. In late 2004, early 2005 Heather started studying fitness full time in order to get herself back into shape. Heather worked with a personal trainer for six months and works out regularly. She enjoys shaking up her routine and checking out new exercises. Her current favorites are the treadmill (she walks up to 90 minutes daily) and doing yoga for stretching. She also performs strength training two to three times a week. Her goals include performing in a marathon such as the Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness or Team in Training for Lymphoma research. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience through the fitness and marriage blogs.