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The Traditional American Wedding Fact or Myth
By Samuel Abdullah

The traditional American wedding is actually anything but traditional or American! The wedding is an important social event in the lives of the participants, but there are so many little rites and rituals that are part and parcel of the traditional wedding that may have very little to do with what the bride and groom are really interested in. If you're planning your own wedding, take a look below for some of the things that we have traditionally accepted as traditional and what they really stand for.

The bride in white is something that many people think of when they think of weddings, but this has only been a European and American tradition for the past hundred years or so, following the popularity of Queen Victoria's bridal clothes. Prior to that, women dressed in their best dress, no matter what color. Today, wedding dresses come in all colors, so make sure white is exactly what you want when planning your trousseau.

The exchange of the rings is usually also extremely important, but even this ritual has older, hidden significance. The ring symbolizes faith, loyalty and obedience, something that makes sense when you realize that until fairly recent times, only the woman wore one! The ring is placed on the ring finger of the left hand, where there was supposed to be a vein running from the finger directly to the heart. The use of a diamond, the stone of faithfulness, was used in many engagement rings to prevent cheating in the marriage.

The wedding party itself has had various functions in the past. In some cultures, the groomsmen had actually helped abduct the bride from her family, and attended the wedding armed to prevent her rescue. In other cultures, the bridesmaids were meant to deflect bad luck and attention away from the bride. Sometimes, the bride's father giving her away was exactly that; she was being given to another clan or tribe in exchange for hunting rights or property. Times have changed quite a lot when you realize your best man's duties have changed from something like military service to planning a bachelor party.

Even our modern tradition of the newlyweds smashing cake into each other's face is part of an older tradition where a bride had a loaf of bread broken over her head to encourage obedience and fertility.

What about traditions that have fallen by the wayside? No one brings a chimney-sweep to their wedding anymore to bring them luck, and most people don't jump over a broom to discover who's going to wear the pants in the family. These traditions, once extremely important parts of the wedding celebration, are now left by the wayside and who knows what traditions will rise and fall in the next few years.

When you look at it with a critical eye, most wedding traditions originally meant something quite different from what they do now. When it comes to planning your own wedding, remember you should only be as traditional as you want to be.