Wedding Reception Traditions

Until after World War II, wedding celebrations were most commonly held in the bride's home, in whatever style of entertainment was within the means of the family. This might be a grand ball for a wealthy family, a luncheon for middle-class families, or an afternoon tea, featuring cake and lemonade, for working-class families. The choice depended primarily on the family's economic situation, and in some cases, mass weddings were favored as a way to share costs. At the beginning of the 20th century, dance halls became common, and were rented by those planning a celebration beyond what their homes could hold. Typical locations for wedding celebrations now include hotel ballrooms, community halls, social halls at the church or other sacred place where the wedding ceremony took place, and, particularly for smaller weddings, restaurants and garden parties at home. There are also many small businesses that specialize in providing places for wedding ceremonies and celebrations.

Technically, to be a reception, instead of some other form of entertainment, guests must be greeted with a receiving line. In a receiving line, the wedding party, including the bridal couple, their parents, and any honor attendants, stand in order of precedence and greet every guest in turn. Each guest greets the first (lowest precedence) person in the line and, if necessary, introduces himself. The first person then introduces the guest to the next person in the line, and turns to the next guest. As each guest properly speaks little more than his name (if necessary) and conventional greetings or congratulations to each person in turn, the line progresses steadily without unnecessary delays.

After formally receiving each guest in this fashion, the members of the bridal party can mingle with guests, eat, and enjoy more extended conversations.

The food served at a wedding reception is determined by the time of the wedding and local custom. Food may range from a single non-alcoholic drink with wedding cake to elaborate, multi-course dinners. The type of food is chosen entirely at the discretion of the hosts.

Some receptions, especially if the family's culture or religious faith prohibits alcohol or dancing, focus on dessert. Hosts may also choose to honor regional or local customs, such as by serving a culturally important cake like croquembouche in France rather than a white layer cake, or by adding local specialties. For example, weddings in Pittsburgh often feature thousands of homemade cookies in addition to a wedding cake.

The wedding cake is often a multi-tiered layer cake that is elaborately decorated with white frosting. Some couples have a smaller display cake, which is supplemented by sheet cake.

The groom's cake is a tradition observed mainly in the southern United States. In the Colonial and Victorian eras, the white-iced bride's cake was considered "too light" for male tastes, and a second cake choice-usually a dark, liquor-soaked fruitcake-was also offered. Today, chocolate is popular, although the groom's cake may be in any flavor and is usually shaped or decorated as something significant to the groom, such as a favorite hobby or sport.

If a full meal is served, the wedding cake is usually served after the meal. Otherwise, the cake may be served as soon as the family has received all of the guests.

Commonly, the couple ceremonially cut the first piece of the cake, and in a nod to an ancient Roman wedding rite, may feed a bite to one another and perhaps sip a glass of wine or other drink with linked arms. Then the cake is served to the guests. Like being asked to pour tea at a formal tea party, being asked to serve the cake is generally considered an honor.

In most Western countries, either before or after food is served, toasts are made by the wedding party, wishing the couple well. Commonly, toasts are proposed by the bride's father, the groom, the best man, and/or the maid of honor.

A new trend involves the addition of a DVD slideshow or photo montage video, featuring pictures of the new spouses growing up and meeting. These are created using home movies and photos taken over the couple's life, edited and set to music. The montage is shown either on a large TV or monitor or with an LCD projector.

If there is dancing at the celebrations after the wedding, the newly married couple typically open the dancing with their first dance. When waltzing was popular, it was sometimes called a bridal waltz, although other dance styles are more commonly used now. The style of dancing depends on the nature of the music chosen. Fox trot, two-step, or rumba match most four-count pop ballads. While most contemporary Western couples select a romantic song and a relatively formal dance style, some couples choose to perform humorous choreographed dances.

Traditionally, shortly after the dance begins, guests would promptly join in the dancing, in order of precedence, exactly like at any other ball. In very recent times, some families have told guests to not start dancing until after watching a sometimes lengthy sequence of "special" dances. For example, after the first dance, the newly married couple might dance with their parents or new in-laws.

A ceremony is often made of the newlywed's departure. Rice or birdseed, signifying abundance, may be thrown at the departing couple, with birdseed preferred by facility managers, since it requires less clean up work than rice, and new, mess-free substitutes, such as blowing soap bubbles or ringing small bells being even more favored by the cleaning staff.

As the newlyweds are the guests of honor, the other guests are expected to remain at the reception until they leave them, and consequently, it is an imposition on the other guests for the newlyweds to stay unreasonably long at the party. On occasion, the newlyweds will stage an official leave-taking, so that guests feel free to leave, and then quietly return through another door.

Wedding Traditions Of American Clothing

Ever wonder where some of our wedding traditions began or what they represent? With the exception of Native Americans, all rituals came from the immigrants that came to this country from all over the world, thus bringing with them their own traditions.

As time has gone by, Americans have taken many of the old ways and molded them together to create their own styles and traditions. Many of the things we see or do in our ceremonies or receptions are generally based on symbolism. In addition, religion, superstition and the warding off of evils spirits play a huge part in these traditions.

Often we think of the veil to be a beautiful accessory that compliments the wedding dress, but the veil originally represented the subordination of the woman to her man. At the end of the ceremony, the veil is lifted. If the man lifts it, it represents male dominance over his bride. However, if the bride lifted it, she is showing independence.

Wearing of the four Something's: Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

- Wearing Something Old symbolizes continuity while transitioning from being a single person to a married one.

- Wearing Something New is a tradition that represents a transition for the married person into adulthood.

- It was thought that good fortunes would be bestowed on to the new married couple by wearing Something Borrowed from a happily married couple.

- Wearing Something Blue, such as Blue ribbons, which represented love, fidelity and modesty, were often worn on the borders of the bride's wedding dress in ancient Israel. Many also believe that the color blue represents the purity of the Virgin Mary.

Prior to 1840, the bride would just wear the best dress that she owned. Then Queen Victoria decided to wear a white dress for her wedding and passed on wearing the royal tradition of the silver dress. The color of white has also been known to represent purity and joyous celebration.

Much like the bride, the groom only wore his best clothes, but changed as the modern tuxedo became popular in American culture. Many feel it was President Theodore Roosevelt that made it popular to wear.

The Wedding Attire for Bridal Party

In the old days, it was tradition for the bride, the groom and their attendants to walk together to the church for the wedding. In an effort to trick any passer-byes that may put a curse on the couple, everyone dressed the same to confuse the curser into not knowing who the actual couple was. Today, we dress alike simply for pageantry of the wedding.

The bride once wore one garter belt, often in blue satin that was used to be tossed. Today, the bride often wears two garter belts. One belt is generally removed by the groom at the reception and is generally colored to match the wedding colors. The other belt is kept by the bride as a memory piece from her wedding.

Placing a penny in the bride's shoe on the day of the wedding goes back to European symbolism. It is thought that the penny will bring fortune, good luck and protect from wanting by the bride. After the wedding, the bride often displays the penny with her wedding memories or incorporates it into some form of jewelry.

The handkerchief that is carried by the bride has taken on different meanings over the years. In modern times, a handkerchief is often carried to wipe away tears of joy and happiness. However, in the past, it was often thought tears on a wedding day would bring rain for their crops and was considered a lucky thing. Crying at the wedding also symbolized that the bride would never cry about her marriage ever again.

From the days of hemp, the bride's ring has evolved. Romans used iron and Italians used diamonds. Today, the tradition is usually gold, but sometimes silver can also be used, depending on the bride's preference.

In America, it is custom to place both the engagement and wedding ring on the third finger of the left hand, which the reason it's referred to as the "ring finger." However, that was not always the case. In the very early days, the ring was placed on the index finger. It is impossible to avoid every stressful situation. It's true that some people are born with natural talent when it comes to cooking, but most people aren't. But, anyone has the power to learn how to cook. As with anything, there are techniques and tricks that you must learn . Understanding how to price a home, getting the required inspections done, and drawing up the sales contract can be daunting to someone who hasn't done it before. Use this advice to help you make those . The main problem would concern local planners as there would be very strict rules as to where a conservatory could be placed and very often permis .

Wedding Traditions Of The 1800's

Most of our modern wedding traditions have roots from the past and have been passed down from generation to generation, with many changes along the way. You may, as you plan your wedding, wonder why we have these wedding traditions in are weddings or where did they come from?

Have you ever seen those old wedding photos where the bride is wearing a black dress, instead of a white one, along with a white veil? It seems a bit odd, but the reason is that in the 1800's it was considered the Victorian Era after the reign of Queen Victoria of England, who served as queen, from 1837-1901. When her husband Prince Albert died, she wore black the rest of her life, therefore other women wore black to honor the Queen.

The weddings of the 1850's were quite often very solemn as they did not play music at the ceremony, but eventually organ music was introduced before and after the marriage vows were given. Eventually it became customary to have music played at your wedding; however the bride and groom did not pick the music as it was left to the organist to choose.

Gradually two music pieces became the customary songs at weddings, the bridal chorus from Wagner's Lohengrin and the wedding march, which Mendelssohn wrote for "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Most weddings at this time were church weddings and the bride did not always wear a white dress. After the couple was married they would have a family feast followed by a group that would escort the newlywed couple back to their room.

In the 1860's the Godey's ladies book published a colored spread of bridal dresses and it became an annual event. During this time in America, when it came to the wedding, each family would try to outdo the other and make their wedding more extravagant. In addition, the wedding dress also began to change. Instead of the crinoline, they began to use a hooped skirt and sometimes the bridesmaids would wear a white dress with a veil or a lighter color to add contrast.

At this time bouquets were not used much rather a fan or a handkerchief with a rosary. In California, gold became a big happening, therefore it would be normal to see the bride giving her bridesmaids a gold friendship ring and use of two rings in the ceremony. The younger brother of Napoleon, Jerome, came to America and found his bride in Baltimore where he took her to Niagara Falls, which caused it to become a popular honeymoon spot.

The thing that you notice the most about 1870's weddings is the change from using only gold to only using white wedding jewelry. The brides of this time only wanted pearls and diamonds and the most popular engagement ring was one with a halt loop style that had five or six diamonds in a crown setting. This ring looked like a diamond tiara on the finger. A popular designer named Worth from Paris designed beautiful wedding dresses that were exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial and everyone wanted his dresses for their special day.

This time in history is the first time we start to see the throwing of the bouquet, as the bride would head for the stairs to change into her going away clothes, she would toss her bouquet. Honeymoons had now become common practice and most couples would go somewhere after they were married to celebrate.

The 1880's saw the family photo album of the wedding became more common, as it was usually only the bride who was photographed. Then George Eastman's Kodak came on the market which gave more opportunity for informal pictures of the occasion. This decade also saw a longer engagement becoming very popular and there was not as much emphasis on the bridal colors, but more was put to the ceremony itself. The planning of the ceremony started three months in advance.

The wedding procession also changed from having the bridesmaids and their escorts followed by the bride's mother, who was led by the groom, to having the bride lead the way and only proceeded by the flower girls. The kissing of the bride also stopped because it was thought to be undignified at the time. The whole church was decorated instead of just the alter and more songs were introduced into the wedding ceremony to supplement the organ. It is impossible to avoid every stressful situation. What should you do whenever you are . A successful agreement between Panama and the United States w . It's true that some people are born with natural talent when it comes to cooking, but mo . You also may have to wait for a p . Understanding how to price a home, getting the required inspectio . The main p .

Wedding Traditions Of A French Wedding

The wedding traditions in the country of France can be traced back to many years ago, and although some wedding traditions have been introduced in modern times, France's steep history still shines through today, after all, it is known for love.

The French women throughout the renaissance and medieval periods wore decorated versions of their own dresses for their wedding. Their best dress was then decorated with various pieces of lace, embroidery and jewelry. Their dress also did not require it to be white or any other color. Wearing of a white dress in France debuted in 1499 when Ann of Brittany wore white for her third marriage, but did not take hold until the 19th century. From that point major social weddings always included the white wedding dress.

The armoire in France is similar to that of a hope chest that would hold the bride's trousseau. The armoire is usually given to the future bride by her father when she was just a young girl. It is decorated with hand carvings of symbols that represented prosperity and wealth. As the years went on, the young girl would fill her armoire with clothing that she will later take with her after she is married. The trousseau is basically a bundle of clothing and linens and is kept in her trousseau. Some items you might find would include lingerie, dresses, linens and her Sunday wear.

The French procession tradition called for the groom to receive his bride-to-be on their wedding morning and from there he would escort her to the church, along family, guests and musicians. Although not practiced today in most of France, some small villages still carry on this timeless tradition. In addition, kids from the village usually will block the pathway to the chapel with white ribbons in order for the bride to cut down.

At the church, the couple will stand underneath a canopy made of silk, while the carre, which is a silk fabric in the shape of a square, is held above the couple's head. The carre is over their heads until after the final blessing from the priest. The carre would then be saved and reused during the baptism of their children that they bear. After the ceremony, wheat or rice are tossed onto the new couple as a symbol of fertility and prosperity. In addition, the use of fragrant flowers is used to scare off evil spirits.

In France, the traditional wedding cake was the croquembouche, but today it is known as the la piece montee. These cakes are small pastry puffs that are filled with creme and stacked in a pyramid, then covered with spun sugar and a caramel glaze. A traditional reception in France also includes the toasting of each other by the new couple using an engraved, two-handled cup, known as the la coupe de marriage. This cup is generally a highly regarded family heirloom that has been in the family from generation to generation.

The use of a garter belt is believed to have originated in the ancient Jewish society. It was there that a ribbon that was worn by the bride on the day of the wedding symbolized fidelity. The tossing of the garter belt did not start until the 14th century as it was the best man that would be the one to remove it, or steal it, from the bride. In some cases the groom would take the garter and cut it into small pieces and then try to sell them to the wedding guests. However, if the bride feared her drunk guests may try to take it from her, she may opt to remove it herself and fling it towards the guests.

One common belief from centuries ago until now is that it is believed that pieces of the bride's clothing brings good luck to anyone that catches it, thus the garter toss, or the tossing of the bridal bouquet.

Chiverie is where a prank is played on the new couple on their wedding night. The prank is intended to interrupt the couple when they are finally alone and is usually pulled off by a crowd of people banging pots and pans together, as well as horns and the ringing of bells. It is impossible to avoid every stressful situation. What should you do whenever you are overcome with stress? The f . A successful agreement between Panama and the United States will open the door to simila . It's true that some people are born with natural talent when it comes to cooking, but most people aren't. But, anyo . You also may have to wait for a plumber to arrive when there . Understanding how to price a home, getting the required inspections done, and drawing up the . The main problem would concern local .