The veil came to symbolize modesty and obedience. In many religions it is seen as a symbol of reverence for women to cover their heads. When white wedding dresses were worn to symbolize chastity, the white veil followed suit.
Although the veil's history varies based on who you ask, most experts agree that you can trace its roots back to Rome, where a bride used to walk down the aisle with a veil over her face in order to disguise herself from any evil spirits who wanted to thwart her happiness.
Do you need to wear your veil over your face? Given its original meaning, you might wonder if your wedding veil should be covering your face as you walk down the aisle—and the decision is completely up to you.
Usually, the father of the bride, or the person who escorts the bride, lifts the bridal veil just after the bride arrives beside the groom. Alternatively, the groom may lift the veil at the moment before the marriage kiss is exchanged.
In this long-standing tradition, the groom reaches under the bride's dress to remove the garter and throws it to the male wedding guests. Often, this is a special-made, decorative "toss garter" used (sometimes doubling as a bride's "something blue").
What Is the Wedding Garter? The wedding garter is a piece of bridal lingerie worn under the wedding dress. During the reception, the groom will remove the garter from underneath the bride's gown (with his hands or teeth) and toss it into the crowd. The garter toss is very similar to the bouquet toss.
In a nutshell, the garter toss is a wedding tradition where the bride's garter is removed and thrown out to a crowd of single men. It's the groom's equivalent of the bouquet toss and is meant to symbolize good luck to the eligible bachelors in attendance.
The wedding garter is a piece of bridal lingerie worn under the wedding dress. During the reception, the groom will remove the garter from underneath the bride's gown (with his hands or teeth) and toss it into the crowd.
If the mother of the bride is taking part in the wedding processional, she is traditionally escorted by a close male relative like a son or brother or may enter alone. If the parents are divorced, she may be escorted by her partner. In some cases, a groomsman or best man will escort her down the aisle.
The bride and groom are the first to exit during the recessional. They are then followed by the flower girl and the ring bearer. The maid of honor and best man will then make their way down the aisle, followed by the remaining bridesmaids and groomsmen. The bride and groom's parents will then exit.
Leave the Bra at Home, Especially if You're Small-Chested. You might think you need to bring a strapless bra wedding dress shopping, but this is a misconception. Bridal gowns aren't constructed like off the rack dresses you might find at your local department store. "Bras do not work with most gowns.
"Wearing hair down can feel much more comfortable than wearing it up in an unusual style that a bride isn't confident in," says bridal hair specialist Sheila Raye Stone. "It also gives a nice frame for the face and softens the neck and shoulders."
A shower should be an intimate party—not a gathering that rivals the wedding—so the guest list is usually made up of the couple's close friends, family, and attendants. The host usually consults the bride to be sure that shower guests are wedding guests.
Tradition says
The tradition of grooms not seeing brides in their wedding dresses started because of arranged marriages. The parents of the bride were afraid that if the groom saw her before the wedding, he would break the arrangement.
The tradition of not seeing your spouse before the wedding is exactly what it sounds like: avoiding your partner before the ceremony starts. This dates back to when marriages were arranged, and the bride and groom weren't allowed to see or meet each other until they were at the altar.
Bride kidnapping is socially accepted as a Kyrgyz tradition, although non-consensual bride kidnapping does not appear to have been common before the early 20th century and the practice has been illegal in Kyrgyzstan since1994.
In Christian ceremonies, the bride's mother is always seated last and the groom's mother is seated just before her. The seating of the bride's mother usually signals the ceremony is about to begin.
The groom's parents precede the bride's mother during the processional. Here's a rundown: After the ushers have seated all of the guests, the grandparents start up the aisle, followed by the groom's parents. Then the bride's mother takes her turn. She is the last to be seated before the bridal party procession begins.
Your officiant is generally the first person to walk toward the altar, signifying the ceremony is about to commence.
Who pays for the wedding dress? This ultimately falls to the bride and her family. They're also expected to cover the cost of the veil, accessories and the rest of the wedding wardrobe, including outfits for the shower, bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, and honeymoon.
One is for the ceremony, and the other is for the reception. A reception dress might sound excessive, but it's actually super practical.
The bride's side of the family traditionally pays for the bride's wedding dress and the bridesmaids' dresses. Increasingly, however, bridesmaids are paying for their own dresses.
Something blue
Blue is the color of love, purity, faithfulness, and modesty. To keep with tradition, the bride can wear a blue piece of jewelry. But for a modern take, you can write a little note or other small message in blue on the bottom of her shoes.
Rice is considered a symbol of wealth. Not only this, rice is considered a sacred material as it is a symbol of happiness and prosperity. In such a situation, when the bride leaves, she wishes for a happy and prosperous life for her family members, due to which rice is used for this ritual.
The young girl traditionally wears a white dress and tosses red rose petals. Symbolically, the white dress represents purity, whereas the red rose petals represent fertility. Therefore, the image of the flower girl is meant to depict the bride's loss of purity for that of romance and fertility with her marriage.