5 wedding traditions & their origins

July 31, 2015 - 2 min read

Wondering why brides wear a veil? Or why wedding flower bouquets are so popular? Here are the origins of five popular wedding traditions.

Wearing a veil

There are two different origins to wearing a veil—one is that the veil was to protect the bride from evil spirits on her wedding day, and the other was so the groom wouldn’t see the face of his bride until they were already wed. These are pretty outdated traditions, so if you’re stressing over choosing the right veil why not skip this altogether?

Carrying flowers

This is another tradition that has been popular in several cultures since the beginning of time. On one hand, brides would carry a bunch of herbs, flowers, spices (and garlic!) to ward off evil spirits. On the other hand, some brides would carry flowers to mask the smell of body odour! At least now they’re just a fantastic way to make the day more beautiful.

Garter toss

Back in the day, people believed it was good luck to take a piece of the bride’s dress. Often this would result in the bride getting mobbed after the ceremony! The solution? Brides would throw out a garter into the crowd to distract them from ripping her dress apart.

Not seeing each other before the wedding

This is a tradition that started with arranged marriages. As part of the arrangement, the bride and groom would only see each other for the first time as they were being wed. Maybe it was to stop any last-minute cold feet!

Diamond engagement rings

Diamond engagement rings are actually a relatively new tradition starting in the 20th century. While most women are adamant about sporting a diamond ring to represent their everlasting love for their partner, the whole idea came about by the huge diamond mining company De Beers. The term “a diamond is forever” was coined and not only helped them to sell their product, but eventually led them to having a major monopoly of the industry and determining their own prices.