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When
did the traditions of bridesmaids,
best man and wedding cake begin?
Click
to Learn More about "The Egyptian Bride"
If
we travel in time back to the days of the Ancients, we can find the origins of
many
superstitions and traditions. For instance, why, you wonder, does a bride
need to
have bridesmaids? Bridesmaids
are very important to the welfare of the Bride!
If you were to eliminate bridesmaids,
then who would confuse the evil spirits?
That’s right, it was thought
by the Ancient Egyptians that when a couple were to
wed, evil spirits would
come to ruin the good mood and atmosphere of the event
with trickery and black
magic. The bridesmaids main function were to dress as
extravagant as the bride
to confuse the evil spirits. "Best
man" is of Scottish origin and goes back many centuries to the time when
a
prospective groom simply kidnaped the woman of his choice and carried her
away
with him. Such a venture required courage and audacity as well as a good
deal of
manpower. So the groom selected the bravest of his friends to accompany
him.
They were known as "groomsmen" —
a term still used in some parts of the country
to describe ushers at a wedding.
The closest and most valiant of the bridegroom's
associates became known as
the "best man". The
wedding cake first started with Ancient Egyptians as a cake of wheat or barley
and
was broken over the bride’s head to signify fertility. But early
Roman bakers, whose
art was held in highest regard, grew offended at the waste
of wheat. They began
to bake small, hand-sized cakes — to be eaten, not
thrown. Festive guests, fond of
the tradition of pelting the bride, tossed
the cakes anyway. The Roman philosopher
Lucretius offered this compromise:
crumble the cakes over the bride's head, and
to further symbolize fertility,
the bride and groom would save a bit of the cake to
feed each other. In the
Middle Ages, when times were hard in England, people were
less willing to
throw food. The sweet cakes evolved to simple biscuits, and guests
were encouraged
to bring their own. After the eating — and yes, still some throwing —
the leftovers were collected into a pile, to be distributed amongst the poor.
The size of
the pile quickly became symbolic of the prosperity of the couple,
who exchanged
kisses atop the mound. Ironically, it was this frugal practice
that gave rise to the
multitiered monolith we are familiar with today. The
French chef of King Charles II
witnessed the cake-piling ceremony and was
appalled at the haphazard stack. Inspired
to build an organized, tiered work
of iced art, it became the rage of all France. The
During the reign of King
Edward II the cake was first (and since) iced white. From
... "FactMaster"
"When
planning a wedding, it is important to find the perfect wedding
favors for the wedding shower."
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