Wedding is a ceremony that has existed since ancient times in many countries around the world, but the history of brides wearing wedding gowns on the wedding is less than 200 years. In the west, the bride's gown with a trailing bottom was originally a ceremonial gown worn by Catholics. Because some ancient European countries are theocracy of the state, people must get married to the church to accept the priest or priest's prayer and blessing, so that can be considered a formal legal marriage, so the bride put on ceremonial clothes to God to express sincere and pure. Before the 19th century, however, there was no uniform color specification for the bridal dress worn by young girls when they got married. Until 1840, Victoria, EnglandSecond queen in the wedding with a white elegant white wedding dress show people, as well as the royal family and upper-class bride have followed the example, white began to gradually become the first choice of wedding dress color. It symbolizes the beauty and holiness of the bride. Now, the white wedding dress has been the most important part of the wedding culture, any country, in addition to keeping their own national wedding dress, more and more new people choose white wedding dress. In addition, in the West, the bride will carefully preserve the wedding dress to pass on to future generations, so that the holy wedding dress becomes a beautiful collection and love inheritance.
Compared with Europe and the United States, China's wedding dress industry started late. At the beginning of the 20th century, the traditional Chinese wedding dress was robes, horse robes and phoenix coronet robes. Since ancient times, the Chinese wedding dress was mainly red, because red was traditionally considered to be auspicious and festive color, so the ancient newlyweds often wore red dress and phoenix coronet. In Chinese traditional customs, the wedding dress is the most important dress in a girl's life. Most of the dresses are made by the girl herself since she was young, and they are finished before she gets married. Therefore, the wedding dress embodies all the dreams of the girl's girlhood. Now although the girl will no longer sew their own wedding clothes, but the wedding clothes must be tailored, hand sewing, in order to show its precious and unique.
The custom of bridal dress, which dates back to the Victorian Times, was associated with "something old, new, borrowed and white". Because the old things with the bride's family and her past life link. Something new represents the bride's future happiness, good fortune and success in her new life. It could be a wedding dress, a handkerchief, a piece of jewelry. Something white is considered a symbol of purity and loyalty.
There are two explanations for the custom of brides wearing wedding dresses. One is that in the era of arranged marriages, the bride's face was covered before the groom formally married her at the wedding, so that by the time he saw her clearly, even if he didn't like her face, it was too late. Another explanation is that brides wear wedding gowns to protect themselves from evil spirits that roam the skies on their wedding day.
The custom of the groom carrying his bride over the threshold dates back to Roman times. It was believed that if the bride stumbled on the threshold of her new home on the first day, it would bring bad luck. Holding the bride over the threshold would prevent this from happening.
The custom of wearing wedding rings is believed to have begun in the 17th century. At that time, the priest began to touch his left index finger in order and said, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit... "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit", just touching the fourth finger.
The practice of carrying flowers for brides dates back to ancient times. It is believed that fragrant flowers or spices can drive away evil spirits, bad luck and disease. In the Victorian era, flowers took on more meaning when lovers sent each other flowers to express their different feelings. For example, the Apple Blossom represents "better things to come". Red roses stand for I love you; White roses represent "purity"; Forget-me-not is "true love and remembrance".
As for the bride standing to the left of the groom, it is very interesting. In ancient times, it was a custom for the groom to use his left hand to protect his future bride. At the same time, he had to use his right hand to defeat and drive away those who wanted to rob him of his wife.
Although today people take these customs for granted, it is interesting to learn about these ancient cultural traditions.
