June Vintage Spotlight: Vintage Wedding Traditions Around the World
Howdy! I didn't forget about the Spotlight Catch-Up going on; per usual whenever I get started on anything, life interfered and said "Nope." lol Anyway, I wanted to close out the month of June with something a bit more broad than just fashion and decor. The original idea was a bit too vague so I narrowed it down a bit so that the post wouldn't be all over the place. As society continues to evolve and the attempt to create something distinctive and individualistic rises, the concept of a 'traditional' wedding and what it entails is starting to lose steam in some quarters. And while I like being able to create my own experience, I have a big thing for keeping with certain traditions, because I'm a cornball like that and I love the history behind some of those things. Wedding traditions are one of the most fun parts of the whole wedding madness, at least for me. It's always a blast for me to learn about the differences in traditions because they seem a bit like dialects or slang in the fact that there are so many. Every country, era, nationality, religion, and culture all have their own traditions, things that are a sacred part of the wedding experience. Some of those traditions and beliefs have since fallen out of practice, though, and it is those that I wanted to make this post about. That subject in itself is a bit too broad, so I had to narrow things down to specific time periods and cultures rather than focusing on older traditions as a whole. When I first started the post, I wanted to focus on different facets of the experience (the wedding dress, festivities, etc.) and the outdated traditions and practices of various times but it became too scattered so I narrowed it down some. Operative word being some. You know there's only so much I can do. LOL As always, hope you enjoy!
The Dress
First, I thought I'd focus on some outdated wedding dress traditions and beliefs. I used a number of sites to help me get all of my facts together, from Life in Italy to Bespoke Bride and Irish Central, and if you like learning about different cultures and time periods, these are three sites that I strongly suggest taking a look at. But let's get to the wedding dress fun!
--I think the most widely known wedding fact is that wedding dresses weren't always white. White didn't become the 'official' wedding dress color until the mid-1800s, during the first few years of the Victorian era. Queen Victoria wore a white dress for her wedding, and from then on it became customary for the bride to wear white.
--The meaning behind various colors was always more apparent when it came to the choice in a bride's wedding dress. Between the Saxon era and 18th century, if a bride wore white it didn't represent innocence as it does today, it meant that she was bringing nothing with her to the marriage. Blue was the traditional color for a bride to wear to represent a bride's purity and innocence, but green was another color that was worn to show the bride's fertility. Italian brides wore green the night before the wedding for fertility, and some chose to wear it for the big day instead. Scottish culture was a bit different, however, as green dresses were associated with fairies and looked down upon if chosen for the wedding.
--Black dresses were quite common for widows to wear if remarrying during the mourning period, and it is also said that Tuscan brides typically used to wear black wedding dresses, even if they weren't mourning. They were said to pair their dresses with white hats and fans. It was said that before the 17th century and in some cultures even after that time, wearing a black wedding dress was perfectly normal.
--Since red symbolizes good luck and vitality in Chinese culture, most brides wore red wedding dresses and veils, the latter of which was said to be to keep bad spirits away the day of the wedding. Grooms wore their hair in a red sachet. Nowadays many Eastern weddings have integrated Western culture into the wedding so it's become quite common to see a bride wearing white for the ceremony, then change into traditional garb later on in the day. I'm not quite sure about the grooms and if the sachet is still a part of traditional Chinese ceremonies.
--The color of the dress was also used as a symbol of wealth, as brides with higher dowries or wealth usually wore whatever color they wanted (save for black, of course) and had more embellishments on the dress than poorer brides. Brides who were less financially fortunate usually didn't have a dress for the occasion; they just wore what they had. Before Elizabethan times, most brides didn't have a dress made specifically for the big day; they simply wore what they had and kept it as part of their wardrobe following the wedding.
--While on the subject of the show of wealth from some brides, the material the dress was made out of was also a representation of one's financial status. Richer brides had elaborate dresses made out of velvet, silk or satin, while poorer brides wore cotton or linen, which were (and still are, actually) less expensive materials and easier to find.
--Depending on the culture, veils were used to ward off bad spirits, as I mentioned with the Chinese weddings, but I read another article that said that sometimes veils were also used in different time periods for the purpose of hiding the bride's face if she was considered unattractive! Arranged marriages were a huge thing back in the day, especially if a substantial dowry was involved, and the couples didn't always meet each other before the wedding. If the bride wasn't pretty, sometimes the parents hid her face with a veil so her groom wouldn't see her until it was time to kiss her at the end of the ceremony. How awful, right?
--Elizabethan wedding dresses followed the trend of being virtually any color, but they must be full-length gowns, with the option of adding a kirtle. I didn't see that as a requirement for many of the other types of weddings. The Victorian era brides had many more rules to follow, from the types of flowers that were most favorable to use, the colors they could integrate into the wedding, and the requirement that they have a train and veil of the same length if marrying in church. Edwardian brides veered more towards satin dresses with floral detail, whether it be in the hair or the gown, with corsets underneath (that were more flattering and much less stress on the body than the Victorian corsets that preceded them) and massive trains.
--It was somewhere around the Victorian and Edwardian periods that wedding dresses began to take on the importance that they now have today. From the required kirtle during Elizabethan times to the train, elaborate bouquets and stiff rules of the Victorian era came the extravagant, frilly Edwardian era. From what I read, it was around this time that the dresses were becoming more individualistic, had a more romantic feel, and the overall feel of the event was very lavish.
Superstitions & Luck
I think life in itself comes with a list of its own superstitions, but I think the encyclopedia of superstitions that follow the wedding day is unmatched. I call today more of a realist society, where finding a superstitious person is considered rare (at least for me), but back in the day myths, legends and superstitions were what helped to dictate day to day life as well as any special occasions. Luck, fertility, prosperity and wealth were what most of these revolved around and thankfully there was no shortage of material to get my facts from since they were so common. Personally speaking, these are some of my favorite things to read about so I could easily make an entire post about wedding day superstitions alone just so I can tell you about everything I learned, but I'm a considerate being and I won't bore ya. You know, no more than I usually do. LOL What about you, do you like reading about superstitions, myths and the like?
--I read about an old wives' tale (poem?) from the Victorian era about the days of the week and what they signified in terms of getting married. In some circles, it was Wednesday that was the best day to get married, while Saturday was considered to be the worst because it was believed that no good luck came on Saturday. Kind of ironic since this is now the most common day to get married, right? In Italy, Saturdays were reserved as the day when widows remarried; everyone else got married on Sunday. Any other day was considered unlucky. The Victorian era was quite different, as the focus was mainly not interfering with peak farming months and marrying on Sunday was off-limits.
--In addition to the days of the week, in some cultures there was focus on the amount of luck that came from the different seasons and times of year as well. Old school Italian culture dictated that nobody was to get married during Lent or the month of May, and marrying during the month of August was highly discouraged. Another old wives' tale (poem) stated that marrying during the spring and summer seasons was best, because these times of year invited prosperity, success and joy, but marrying during the colder seasons invited coldness, infertility and ultimately the failure of the marriage.
--Chinese tradition didn't allow you to pick just any date to get married, like we can do now. The entire wedding date had to align correctly, because if it didn't it could spell bad fortune for the couple's marriage. The date had to be timed and selected very carefully in an effort to find the date that brought the most good luck. Sounds more stressful than planning the rest of the wedding!
--As if it couldn't get any more difficult to choose a day, month, year, season, time of day or color to get married in, there were even old wives' rhymes about what the different colors symbolized in relation to getting married. White, blue and pearl seemed to be the only colors that didn't guarantee bad luck in some fashion.
--As I mentioned above, Chinese brides often wore their wedding veils over their faces, partially to ward off bad spirits, but according to Italian tradition, tearing a piece from the bride's veil was said to be the good luck charm for the couple.
--Scottish brides used to have a specific cake made just for them for the sole purpose of having it broken over her head following the wedding. Depending on how the bridescake broke over her head, it foretold the amount of luck that the marriage would have. This is sort of similar to the breaking of a glass at an Italian wedding reception, where the pieces of broken glass would be counted, and the number represented the total amount of years that the couple could enjoy a happy marriage.
--In most circles, encountering a funeral or any other omen of bad luck on the way to a wedding is not the best indicator of good fortune. For Italians, it's a bit more complex. The wedding party usually walks to the ceremony first in prep for the bride's walk later, but tradition states that if either a funeral procession is encountered on the way to the ceremony, the party must turn around, go home and start over. Obviously, this set many wedding processions back, but once the party arrived at the church, the elder performing the ceremony was usually informed and he led the party through a prayer to ward off bad spirits immediately before the wedding began. Scottish legend adds pigs to the bad omen list if seen on a wedding day.
--Traditional Chinese weddings back in the day were actually about the groom, not the bride. It was considered to be his day. In the 48 hours leading up to the wedding, the groom's family had a large task to undertake. The groom's parents made the bridal bed the morning before the wedding, and that night the groom would have to sleep in it. The morning of the wedding, the groom's nephew had to jump on the bed. This was said to be a practice to wish good fertility on the couple. Newer variations of this tradition have the groom's parents changing the bedding and leaving it untouched, or the groom having a younger male relative share the bed with him the night before in a tradition that was said to be a prayer for the family line to continue.
--For Italian brides, it was seen as a bad omen to have unmarried women around a newly married man, so all of the bridesmaids had to already be married at the time of accepting the bride's request.
--During Victorian times, when the couple leads the procession out after the wedding, it was considered bad decorum (decorum really was everything back then) to acknowledge anyone in the congregation, so both the bride and groom had to keep their eyes forward as they walked out.
--Including bells in the wedding ceremony is one that I've seen across a few cultures. Guests at Irish weddings used to be given small bells to help ward off evil spirits, but nowadays rather than giving every guest (which can be sizable depending on the wedding) a bell, some churches simply ring the bell following the ceremony.
--Another old wives' tale that I'm sure many single women had to keep in mind was that if they served as a bridesmaid three times, they supposedly would never be the brides themselves. I've never been a bridesmaid, but I probably would have been horrified if I had more than three friends who got married before I did. lol
--Irish brides used to carry a horseshoe made of iron with them to the wedding for good luck and usually continued to do so afterward to ward off evil spirits and maintain a happy marriage. This isn't too unlike the Italian tradition of the grooms carrying iron in their back pockets to ward off evil spirits.
Cultural and Era-Specific Customs
This section is probably my favorite out of the three. I love learning about different cultures and ways of life throughout time, because most times the older ones are so much more different and distinctive in their own way. This extends to weddings, where I've gotten to read and learn about so many fun things from the eras I chose to research.
--The Scottish way of asking for a daughter's hand seems both fun and stressful, because the hopeful groom would have to visit the bride's family and prove himself by completing a number of obstacles and tasks set by her father in order to earn the chance just to ask for the lady's hand in marriage!
--In some places in Germany, the hopeful groom would have to bring his father and godfathers to speak with the bride's parents before asking for her hand in marriage. If the request was accepted and both the bride and her family agreed, then a mini-celebration commenced. If they seemed a bit unsure, however, then the hopeful had to return for another meeting and try to convince the parents.
--When Chinese brides got married, it usually meant it would be the last time she'd get to see her family. From that point on, she takes on her groom's family and friends as her own. Because of that, she would go into seclusion in the days leading up to the wedding so that she'd have the time to say proper goodbyes to everyone in her life. Many brides in various cultures had to deal with this, but that was more of a proximity issue if her husband didn't live in town.
--Dowry was a big thing across a number of cultures, as was the preparation of a trousseau for the bride. For Scottish brides, they were expected to bring bedding, table and kitchen furnishings for the marital home as well as money, sheep or a goat if a dowry was involved. If the bride was unattractive, the dowry matters were a requirement as it was probably said dowry that convinced the groom's father to let the wedding commence.
--Venetian brides usually had two dresses for their weddings; one was for the ceremony and the other was for the reception but in an odd twist, the nicer dress was for the reception.
--Up until around the Victorian era, everyone had designated times at which they were to get married. Royals and commoners had separate times of day, with commoners having up until 3pm and royals having . This is in direct contrast with Sicilian marriages, which usually took place at night.
--In Colonial and Victorian times, invitations were commonly sent out and most weddings took place in a church. Country weddings were also big during this time, and for the wealthy it usually turned into a weekend-long event. For Elizabethan-era brides, however, invitations weren't necessary. Most towns and villages at that time were very small, so they just weren't needed because chances are that everyone was already aware of the wedding. Everyone was allowed to attend but those in mourning were encouraged to lose themselves in the crowd if they chose to attend. Strict social standing policies were enforced, meaning the poorer guests had to stay in the back of the congregation.
--Scottish hen/stag nights sound like they would simultaneously be the most fun and humiliating night of the bride and groom's lives. The hen night used to feature the bride, carrying around a chamber pot with salt in it, with male passersby being encouraged to donate money to the pot in exchange for a kiss from the bride. Stag nights allowed the groomsmen or male relatives to cover the groom in ash, soot, treacle (which is a gross mixture of molasses, sugar and corn syrup), flour and feathers. So you might as well say the groom was tarred and feathered. LOL He was then walked around the village in said getup, with the instigators finding as many people as possible to come and laugh at him all night.
--Around the 1800s, it was practically law that unmarried women were allowed to wear their hair down and loose, but once they were married they were required to put it up in a bonnet. From what I read, the wedding day can be exempted, but after that any loose hair was required to be pinned up and away from the face.
--Instead of tossing the bouquet or garter during the reception like in America, Scottish brides used to throw a decorated ball after leaving the church, while the groom used to throw coins. From what I read, these are now outdated traditions since they were known for causing injuries. lol
I know this one was super late, but when I tell you now in July that I was over the wedding theme, I mean it. It's much harder to motivate yourself to do something when you're not really in that mindset anymore. But I'm glad to have it finished because now I don't have to worry about it anymore. I loved reading about all of the stuff, but that joy didn't carry over to writing about all of it. LOL I hope this wasn't too all over the place and you learned some old school wedding traditions that you hadn't heard about before. I apologize if you're more learned on the subject than I and didn't learn anything new. Tomorrow we'll have July's Vintage Spotlight to close out the month, which I've been excited to finally start working on. I'll see you tomorrow!
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