Odd Wedding Ceremony Traditions

And for the rest of their lives, the man and woman shall be together….

Doesn't it sound romantic? For the man and the woman to leave their families to be as one, to form a new family? It has been like this from time immemorial. And throughout the millennia, the concept of family and marriage have been so closely knotted together that it is sometimes impossible to separate one from the other.

Marriage And Culture

Marriage is present in every culture in some form. Although the laws, norms, and cultures may differ, they all still recognize the union of man and woman under one roof.

Marriage ceremonies have evolved in so many ways from the different cultures all throughout the world and throughout the ages. For each culture, there are diverse ways of celebrating something like marriage. But in each culture, there has always been one thing that has remained the same - that in every culture, and every tribe, marriage has always been one to be celebrated with the utmost of festivities, with singing, eating, and celebrating.

Along with these wedding ceremony traditions, man and woman have also adopted a growing, and evolving number of traditions each filled with meaning and - believe it or not - shocking origins.

The Wedding Cake

All wedding ceremony planning there must include a wedding cake. The traditional wedding cake started with a tall, elaborated, and delicately crafted wedding cakes evolved from the simple grooms-cakes made by family members for the bride. Before the wedding ceremony day, one of these cakes was put under the pillow of the bride. The bride would then sleep and "dream" of the groom, and yes, squish that cake into oblivion...lol.

The real traditional wedding cake would be a pound cake that would be "pound up" and crumbled and tossed at the couple as a sign of fertility. That is where we get today's custom of sprinkling the couple with rice after the wedding. Hmm...glad things have changed.

Traditional wedding ceremony cakes are usually stacked up in large layers. The higher the stack, the more ‘glamorous' the cake. People usually regard these arrangements are mere style. However, they were done so in the past as a symbol of fertility. Couples would stack these cakes to symbolize how many children they wished to have. So in the past, the higher the stack, the more the children....yikes!

Tying the Knot

Now the truth can be told. Tying the knot did not necessarily mean getting knotted together. Although now I would not be surprised if that did actually happen at one time or another. During ancient tribal times, the bride would usually be wrapped in a sheet with a knot out in front. This was to symbolize virginity. ‘Untying the knot' was the groom's privilege after the wedding the night.

Wedding ceremony cakes have come a long ways since these traditions first came about. In your wedding ceremony planning make sure that your wedding cake is a symbolic way of uniting your love and blessings of your wedding ceremony.