OT: English Wedding Traditions
 

My partner's son is getting married here in the US. My partner's son was born in England (Lancashire), but was raised mostly here in the US.

His bride would like to incorporate some English traditions into their American ceremony. Are there any wedding traditions that are English in nature that I can pass on to her? One thing she is already doing is planning to carry red roses, which is the official flower of Lancashire, where the groom was born. But other than that, I'm clueless as to how to help them!

I know Frus is a bride to be, and am hoping she will share some pearls of wisdom with me.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.worldweddingtraditions.co...raditions.html

I found this. :)

Thanks, I saw this too after I posted...The only thing that looks unique is the sewing of a horseshoe to the hem of the bride's dress.

Hi
the only thing i can think of is the bride usually wears..... something OLD, something NEW, something BORROWED, and something BLUE .

And a lot of times the something blue is usually a blue 'garter';)

Also i have found a couple of sites that may be of interest....

http://www.hitched.co.uk/symbols/index.asp

http://www.weddings.co.uk/info/tradsupe.htm

Another...


English
Older, more traditional English Wedding celebrations used to begin on the way to the ceremony, with young girls scattering flower petals along the path that the bride is walking. This was done in the hope of providing a happy path in life. The bride would walk down the path carrying a horseshoe decorated with ribbons on one bent arm, to bestow good luck on herself.
A traditional English wedding cake is a usually a basic fruitcake. The top tier is known as the “christening cake”, which is saved for the baptism of the couple’s first child. The cake is typically made of raisins, ground almonds and cherries and topped with marzipan.
During the 1500’s most people got married in June. This was because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June (well, some of them did!). However, most were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour, hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Yearly bath :lol:

and one more i have found....

http://www.weddings-and-brides.co.uk.../Tradindex.htm


hope they are of some use:)

It seems like alot of customs done in America are originally English, like old/new/borrowed/blue and the flower petals down the aisle.

:lol3: This explains a lot with the foriegn exchange students we used to get here in the states when I was a kid. Especially the ones from France :lol3: Thank Goodness for modern plumbing!!

Thank Goodness for modern plumbing!!

Yes quite !!:lol3:

Ah - but mostly they didn't notice the pong because they all smelled like it.

I've never heard of sewing a horseshoe to the brides hem - I would think it would make a terrible clonking noise while she is walking along!

One tradition is that the brides maids were MAIDENS - i.e. virgins - can you imagine trying to insist on that nowadays??? :)

Bride to "maidens" : "And of course, as is tradition, you all must be virgins..."

"Maidens": Room bursts with uncontrollable laughter...:lol: :lol3:

:D I think i's wonderful for those who remain virgins that are not married, but that would be pretty much mission impossible in this day and age.

Everyone's forgetting our 'lucky chimney sweeper' Its traditional for a chimney sweeper to kiss the bride and shake the grooms hand for luck and posterity. The horseshoe can be held or sewn on the INSIDE of the hem.

Also if the single lady guests take their wedding cake home, they place it under their pillows, they then dream of the man they are to marry. It didint work for me tho lol.