Western Wedding Traditions and Where They Come From
Ironically many of the rituals being performed by devout Christians in a Christian church and ceremony are essentially based on Pagan beliefs.
Thankfully sometimes it is an elegant ritual and equally thankfully some of the rituals are just plain fun. It is likely that any ritual not fitting either the elegant beauty category or the fun category would have been phased out long ago and is thus no longer being practiced today. There are likely countless marriage rituals in various cultures which have long since been forgotten due to their disuse. Let's look at some of the more popular traditional western rituals that are still being practiced today and perhaps see just why they have stayed around so long.
The throwing of rice is an interesting ritual of the kind that is very popular in animist or Pagan cultures as it is essentially a ritual of fertility. Rice is a seed and it doesn't take a far stretch of the imagination to see just what showering handfuls of white seed on a newlywed couple is symbolic of. Besides, it's possibly the most fun of all wedding rituals.
The wedding bouquet itself is one ritual that has transformed over the years into something far different than it was originally intended to be performed. It had been a bouquet of intense herbs which were thought to have the effect of protecting from undesired "energies" which were considered inappropriate for the wedding ceremony. Imagine walking down the aisle with a bouquet of garlic today. Thankfully that is one ritual that has changed for the better.
Finally one tradition which may seem Pagan in its concept of luck is the tradition of the groom not being allowed to see the bride prior to the ceremony.
