Funky Wedding Facts, by Funk Conspiracy

North East Wedding Band Funk Conspiracy bring you the origins of popular wedding traditions and customs.

The Marriage - the taking of each others right hand:

The open right hand is a symbol of strength resource and purpose. The coming together of both right hands during the wedding ceremony is a symbol that both the bride and groom can depend on each other for the resources that each brings to the marriage. It also represents the merger of their lives together into one.

Leap Year Proposals:

Every woman has a right to propose on 29th February during a leap year. This tradition goes back many hundreds of years to when the leap year day had no recognition in English law. The date was ‘leapt over’ and ignored hence the term leap year. Because the date had no legal status it was assumed that common traditions (for example, the man proposing to the woman) also had no status. Consequently, women took advantage of this anomaly and proposed to the man they wished to marry.

Since the leap year day corrected the discrepancy between the calendar year of 365 days and the time taken for the earth to complete one orbit of the sun (365 days and 6 hours), it became an opportunity for women to correct the discrepancy in the tradition that appeared to be one-sided.

For those wishing to take advantage of this ancient tradition, you do not have long to wait as 29th February 2012 is a leap year so there is only five months to go!

Grey horses:

All the best bridal carriages used to be pulled by grey horses and it is still considered good luck to see a grey horse on the way to the church.

Lucky Horseshoes:

Horseshoes have always been lucky. There is an ancient story about the Devil asking a blacksmith to shoe his single hoof. When the blacksmith recognised his customer, he carried out the job as painfully as possible until the Devil roared for mercy. The Devil was released on condition that he would never enter a place where a horseshoe was displayed. A horseshoe carried by the bride is now considered a symbol of luck and fertility.

Wedding Bells:

A peal of bells as the couple leave the church is another ancient tradition. Before the days of widespread literacy the sound of the bells was how local people were aware that a wedding had taken place. The sound of bells was also said to drive out evil spirits.

Bad Luck Omens:

It is considered bad luck for the bride to look in the mirror wearing her complete outfit before her wedding day. Tradition says that part of yourself goes into the reflection and therefore the bride will not being giving all of herself to her new husband. This is also why we follow the tradition that the groom does not see the bridal gown before the ceremony.

Come back next week for our blog about the traditions associated with wedding anniversaries.

Written by Navella Caretto.