Traditional Wedding Facts
There are many wedding traditions we simply take for granted and many others we disregard as old wives' tales' but it may be that the traditions we enjoy the most are the ones with most obscure history. While knowing the history of your wedding traditions may not influence your decision to follow them, it may give you another idea for your honeymoon.
In the days when the groom captured his bride from her town and married her without the consent - or often knowledge - of her family and friends, it was thought that the honeymoon was a period of time when the bride and groom stayed away to let the bride's family �cool off'.
Another theory which originated in Babylonia 4,000 years ago has a different spin. At that time it was traditional for the bride's father to give his new son-in-law as much mead as he could drink. Once the groom got stuck into his gift, it took him about a month to consume it. Since the calendars were based around the cycles of the moon, the period was called the �honeymonth' and so the period of time after the wedding became known as the �honeymoon'.
Horseshoes have long had significance for Christians who believe that having a horseshoe over their door will show the devil their Christianity and therefore he will spare them. The Greeks also regarded the horseshoe as a symbol of fertility.
This is likely to be where the idea of a �lucky horseshoe' came from and why it is important to many brides. With the horseshoe being shaped like a U, it must be hung by ribbons from the top of the U to ensure the good luck for the marriage does not fall out. It is believed that the luckiest horseshoes come from grey mares.
Many people also believe that it is lucky to see a grey horse on your way to the church on your wedding day, with extra luck received if the bride arrives in a carriage drawn by a grey horse.
