2.23.2009

Questions.

So this past weekend I was insanely busy! Work Friday night, visiting the "in-laws" LoL yes they call themselves the "in-laws" LoL I love it, came home slept for a bit & then up & out the door ASAP on Saturday morning. Saturday was the fabulous Kung Fu Panda bowling party; I had to run & get wrapping paper & pick up the gift I saw for Carrie that I had to get her (which she loved) and then got showered & picked up Aidan & were off! My beloved* & I then had to have Aidan up at 9am (which I woke up late, I never do!) and were off once again. The fabulous Miss Kolleen had the 1st Annual NEDA Walk at 10a; supported, chatted, & once again were off! Grabbed a few items needed for me dearest Julie's wedding; showered, dressed (looked gorgeous pictures soon), and once again were off! Of course as soon as we got in the car it began raining, then snowing & just overall yumminess for driving 45 minutes in the  car! But I was not complaining at all because watching my dearest Julie say her vows to the man she loved, Walter (fabulous guy love him to death) just killed me! Uh! One of the dearests down another to go, LoL they're killing me with all of this emotion crap, I don't do the girly emotional crap! Blah! So this weekend was nuts, & today it is catching up with me, I believe I slept about 2/3 of the day! And next weekend will be yet another busy weekend, but this time it will be busy of fabulous events for my beloved* & I; we will be spending time with both parents, traveling to Mohegan Sun (wish us luck to win big) and attending the Aaron Lewis concert while we are there! Woot.Woot we need a weekend away for just us to get away, can not wait! But being at a wedding of course the females deal with the 'something borrowed, something blue & something new' the fact that the bride wears white, & just certain parts of the wedding that take place that are like huh? where did that come from? And of course Miss Nosey-Body over here needs to know the answers, LoL I actually google'd while at the dinner table arguing with one of Julie's cousins about culinary sh!t, had to prove him wrong! 4 years learning about culinary arts you'd think this kid would believe the words coming out of my mouth but no he had to be proven wrong! So my first question, why does a bride wear white? I mean some bride's wear white but we all know the jig is up, if you have a child we all know you are not "pure" LoL sorry sounds horrible & I am not judging in any way, shape or form but if you are doing it for traditional reasons, honey sorry but it's a complete (bad) lie! But http://weddings.weddingchannel.com tells me that 

Any bride may wear white. The white wedding gown is mistakenly thought to represent virginity; it in fact is merely a color of celebration (ancient Greeks wore white for their most important festivals) and a wedding fashion vogue popularized in the 19th century. Still, the second time bride might think twice about selecting the sort of "big, white gown" most commonly worn by first time bride, for fashion reasons, not etiquette reasons. If you've worn a white wedding dress before, it just seems trite to wear one again. Also, there's no getting around the widely held misconception about which brides can wear white, and so you may unknowingly be raising the eyebrows of some guests. If you've been married before, consider going for a more sophisticated, less elaborate look for your return to the alter.'

So that's that. But the veil? Hmm what's that one all about & the same website http://weddings.weddingchannel.com says:

The bridal veil, however, is traditionally a symbol of virginity and second time brides are encouraged not to wear a veil. At the very least, avoid wearing a blusher veil (the short piece of veil that "masks" the bride through the first part of the ceremony and then is raised by the groom when he kisses her).

So we had it backwards?! The veil is what symbolizes the "purity" of the lady. Hm, interesting! Now the something borrowed, new & blue that I found at http://www.ask.yahoo.com/ and they say:

Each item in this poem represents a good-luck token for the bride. If she carries all of them on her wedding day, her marriage will be happy. "Something old" symbolizes continuity with the bride's family and the past. "Something new" means optimism and hope for the bride's new life ahead. "Something borrowed" is usually an item from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. The borrowed item also reminds the bride that she can depend on her friends and family.
As for the colorful item, blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity has long dressed the Virgin Mary in blue, so purity was associated with the color. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns, as evidenced in proverbs like, "Marry in blue, lover be true."

And finally, a silver sixpence in the bride's shoe represents wealth and financial security. It may date back to a Scottish custom of a groom putting a silver coin under his foot for good luck. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted, and many companies sell keepsake sixpences for weddings.


I love finding out where things came from, now onto, what I think if the worst & silliest part of the wedding the throwing of the bouquet, which by the way they did twice last night aiming for me!! Neither time did it even come close to me, LoL now I remember why we picked up soccer Julie! Now after getting information on this part of the traditions, it was a real stunner nothing I expected and honestly glad that this tradition started because what happened originally was nuts & I'd personally crack some skulls dressed up in my white "purity" wedding dress in front of my entire family easily! www.wisegeek.com told me that 

In medieval Europe, a bride typically did not expect to wear her wedding dress again, and the dress was considered good luck for other women, a type of fertility charm. After the wedding, single women chased the bride and ripped pieces off her dress, leaving her in tatters. Over the years, wedding dresses became more expensive and it became traditional for women to keep them, either as a memento or to pass on to a daughter for her wedding day.

To prevent guests from ripping the wedding dress, brides began throwing other objects as a distraction, one of which was the garter. Later, the bouquet became the most traditionally thrown object. The wedding bouquet is particularly suited to this use, as flowers symbolize fertility, and as perishable items, they are not something the bride would wish to keep. The bouquet is also a safer item to toss than the garter, as unruly and impatient wedding guests were sometimes known to try to take the garter from the bride while she was still wearing it.

Some modern brides and grooms do not like the tradition of throwing the bouquet and either modify it or do away with it altogether. Tossing the bouquet can be uncomfortable for unmarried female guests who do not wish to marry or who feel put on the spot by the custom. Also, competition to catch the bouquet can become a violent stampede. Some brides stage the event so that their maid of honor or a friend who is engaged catches the bouquet. Others choose to give a small bouquet to each of their bridesmaids, or to give each woman at the reception a flower from the bridal bouquet.

woah! imagine seeing that now-a-days instead of just the  throwing of the bouquet!? I personally would either die laughing or defending the bride?! (depending which side I was on) LoL absolutely hilarious. 

I guess I am done for the night, feeling exhausted & starting to feel coldy (getting a cold) I just needed some answers to all of my questions & after a few drinks google'ing on a tiny blackberry rather than dancing to the B-52s isn't really an option! LoL and my beloved* has a lot of answers to many of my questions but was stumped at a certain point so I needed answers!

3 comments:

Miss Kolleen said...

I forget what custom it is, but brides give their groom honey! I'm excited!


My dress is black!

Jennie La* said...

OooO. i'll google it & let you know. hhhmm, interesting.

Miss Kolleen said...

its irish, actually:

Mead is a wine-like drink that, in its simplest form is made from honey, water and yeast. It was thought that meed could improve virility in men and fertility in women, and so held a significant place at weddings. References suggest that it is from the ingredient in mead (i.e., the honey) that the word honeymoon originated. Irish history documents the custom in which the groom would capture the bride at her home and bring her to the wedding feast, where large quantities of mead were generously passed to all the celebrants. When the festivities were over, the groom would "hide" the bride from her family for a period of a "full moon" of time, in hope that the bride might then be pregnant so that the marriage could not be challenged. One could say that the custom started with honey (mead) and ended with the moon.

Some wine and liquor shops carry an organic mead honey wine, a dry white wine which is made by fermenting honey and is also available in flavors such as elderberry, blackberry and cranberry.

I know I read somewhere that the bride gives the groom honey as a gift but now I can't find it. I will someday!

This is interesting, too:

The Horseshoe has long been a symbol of good luck in cross-cultures. Irish tradition has it that a horseshoe given as a wedding gift to the bride and groom and kept in their home will bring them good luck. The horseshoe must always be hung like the letter "U," so that the luck doesn't "drip out."