Have you ever wondered why a bridal party carries flowers, or why there even is a bridal party? Are you ever curious as to why a bride wears a veil or why it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before she walks down the aisle?
There are tons of different traditions that surround a wedding day & most of us have no idea why we do the things we do. Our only reason is “because it’s tradition!” Well, I’m a sentimental sucker, so I love, love, LOVE traditions, but I want to know WHY it’s a tradition. I want to know why it’s deemed important by “them” so that I can decide if it’s important to ME! Don’t you??
I’ve decided to uncover the mystery & do a little research to find out the ‘why’ behind some of my favorite wedding traditions. I’d love to hear what your favorite traditions are so that I can add them to my list, so be sure to leave a comment and let me know! I’ll devote a different blog post to each tradition, so be on the lookout for more.
Today I want to know why the bridal party carries flowers. Flowers are probably my most favorite detail of a wedding day & while I don’t really need a reason to love flowers, I’d still like to know how it all started. It turns out that back in the day, people only bathed once a year. That’s right. Once. Per. YEAR!! Holy body odor, batman! So, the bride & bridesmaids carried bouquets of fragrant flowers and the groom & groomsmen wore boutonnieres as a way to mask their stinkiness with the lovely scent of flowers. Yikes. I’m gonna go ahead and assume that probably didn’t work very well, but I’m grateful for the effort none the less since it sparked the beginning of one of my favorite wedding day traditions!
All I have to say is Praise the Lord for indoor plumbing! Can I get an Amen?!
