"Strange & Popular Wedding Traditions Explained"

I ran across this cool article on MSN. It was explaining the origins of many wedding traditions that we know and do today.

Let's take a look at the explanations of some of the few strange and popular weddings traditions.

1. Wearing a white wedding dress

Queen Victoria wed Prince Albert in 1840 and she was the first to wear a white wedding dress. But before that brides wore the nicest dress out of their closet. In royalty, Queen Victoria traditionally was to wear a silver gown. She decided to go against tradition and wear a white satin gown, thus "unitentionally kick-started the tradition of the white wedding dress."

2. Having bridesmaids

Brides use to play a more serious role than throwing bachelorette parties and moral support. According to Roman Law, ten witnesses had to be present at the wedding to outsmart evil spirits. The bridesmaids would dress just like the bride so that the evil spirits would not know who the bride was and couldn't harm her. Bet you would think twice about being a bridesmaid now.

3. Wearing a wedding veil

Similar to the bridesmaids, the veil was to cover the bride's face so the evil spirit couldn't see her, therefore couldn't curse her.

4. Tossing the garter

Some historians believed that the removal of the garter by groom was symbolic of deflowering. But some believe in the superstition it represented. During the Middle Ages, the groomsmen and other men would bomb rush the bride to get the garter (off her leg under her dress). It was considered a prize, a good luck charm. I'm so glad only the groom gets the job of removing the garter.

Wedding Myths Exposed

The majority of brides are opting not to have a traditional wedding. When planning a wedding many people will say "you have to do this, or you have do that or have this."  But its YOUR day and you can celebrate how you want. Here I am going to expose 5 of the many wedding myths.

Myth #1: The bride's family pays for everything (majority).

With most couples waiting later to get married and cohabiting before marriage, many men and women have already established careers and have become very opinionated on what they desire. So the couple then pays for their own wedding day with little or no help from either the bride or groom's family.

Myth #2: The bride's dress has to be white.

White symbolizes purity and that is to be incorporated into marriage. But like I mentioned earlier, many brides are not going the traditional route. Its also common for brides to choose a beige, off white, or cream dress. Why not consider a champagne color dress. Or go all out and choose a mint green dress like singer Kelis.

Myth #3: You have to have a groom's cake.

So is the "main" cake considered the bride's cake? Point taken. Two cakes are not necessary especially if that money can be used for something else. (Disclaimer: I did have a groom's cake only because I was afraid of what people would say or think if I didn't. That is something else that needs to be debunked. Who cares what others think. Its your day.)

Myth #4: You have to hire a DJ or band.

A popular trend that is growing is having a iPod or customized CD played at the reception instead of hiring a DJ or band. The bride would designate someone to press play, pause, and stop for different parts of the reception. With this option the couple has full control of what music is played at there reception and save tons of money.

Myth #5: You have to purchase a wedding band/engagement ring.

I personally would rather just have the engagement ring and not the wedding band along with it. Its too much on one finger. That's just my personal preference. Also colored stones and diamonds are very pretty and unique outside of the regular diamond for the engagement ring.