The traditions that make a wedding so special:
There are so many wedding traditions. Some are not very common, some have been almost forgotten, and some are present in every occidental wedding, whether in Spanish, American or Parisian weddings. Here are a few of the most known and loved traditions:
– Something Old, something New, something Borrowed and something Blue. It is said that you need these four good-luck objects to have a good and successful wedding and marriage.
The “something old” symbolizes continuity, the brides’ family bond and her life before her wedding. It can be anything really, from a family heirloom to the veil worn by the bride’s mother on her wedding day.
The “something new” represents the new step the couple is taking and the life they’re building. This “new” object gives them optimism for their future. It’s usually the wedding dress, but it can be the shoes, a necklace or even your new underwear bought especially for the occasion.
The “something borrowed” is usually borrowed from a happily married friend or a family member and it ensures that the happiness and luck this couple has will pass on to the newlyweds. You’re borrowing some luck from a person you love through a piece of jewelry or even a pair of socks.
The “something blue” symbolizes fidelity, love and purity, and it was originally meant to get rid of evil eye. This blue detail can be a pretty bow tie on your hair or a soft blue flower in your bouquet.
– Rice Shower: This is a very old and beautiful tradition that brings everybody together. After the ceremony, the guests start throwing rice at the newlyweds, accompanying it with heartwarming wishes of happiness and love. This tradition goes way back and it’s said to bring fertility and prosperity while driving away the evil spirits. This tradition is really common in French weddings. Sadly, throwing rice is really bad for the birds that will want to eat it afterwards, so people are replacing it with petals or even soap bubbles. We’ll do anything to preserve our traditions!
– The Bridesmaids: the tradition of bridesmaids started off as a way of confusing evil spirits. Apparently, they believed that by having bridesmaids dressed in the same colors as the bride, the evil spirit would get distracted and not be able to spoil the bride’s happiness.
– The Wedding Garter: You won’t see this at every wedding party, but I think it’s a very fun and sexy tradition to keep. It’s based, like so many other traditions, in a superstition. Apparently, people believed that owning a piece of the wedding dress would grant them good luck. So, to prevent being attacked at the end of the ceremony by the guests who wanted to rip off the wedding dress, women started to wear a garter just to have something to give away. This lead to the removal of the garter tradition. The bride will sit down and the groom will take off her garter in front of everyone. Then, he will either toss it to the male guests or, like the Spanish like to do, the garter will be put to “auction” and sold to the highest bidder. The man who got the garter will sometimes have to put it on the woman who got the bouquet, and that’s a whole other fun and sexy game.
– Bouquet Toss: At the end of the exquisite evening, after the feast and the dancing, comes the bouquet toss. It’s one of the traditions that are almost always present in wedding celebrations, whether they’re big or small weddings. It started off for the same reasons as the wedding garter tradition. Everyone wanted a piece of the bride, or at least touch her to take some good luck home, and single girls would hope that by touching her, they would soon be married too. To escape the crazy single ladies, the bride would often toss her bouquet and run away. And thus, the bouquet tossing tradition was created! Today, it became kind of a game where the bride turns her back to the single women at the party and tosses the bouquet. Supposedly, whoever gets it is going to be the next one to get married. If these traditions worked every time, the man with the garter and the woman with the bouquet should be able to start planning their wedding right away!
Wedding Traditions – Destination wedding planner in France
https://bellacordelle.fr/chambres-hotes/