Tricia Spencer's Blog
Posted by Tricia Spencer
It's natural to wonder where certain wedding tradtions originated, and though some can never be pinpointed exactly, legends survive from century to century.
Nearly every bride wears a bridal veil, and the veil can be short or long, simple or adorned, single layer or as fluffy as can be. But it may be surprising to learn that the bridal veil has some not so pleasant intents lurking about in its history.
Long, long ago, during the reign of the Roman Empire, bridal veils were carefully measured to cover the bride from head to foot. Why? So she could be buried in it, of course. Indeed, bridal veils doubled as burial shrouds, and no bride wanted to wind up with a too-short veil that would leave her toes exposed when she was laid to rest. It may not have been a very happy thought for a wedding day, but it must have been a frugal cost saver.
In some cultures, the bridal veil was required to be so thick and opaque that it completely obscured the bride's face. The groom had never seen his intended, and it was thought prudent to keep his "surprise" under wraps. Early knowledge that his bride might not be his cup of tea could make a groom flee before the deed was done. And while the groom may have been in for a shock, imagine the poor bride peering out between gossamer threads to discover that her soon-to-be husband was three times her age and sporting two whole teeth and a nose that could lovingly be called the Horn of Plenty. Yet no one draped a concealing veil over the groom's eagle-beaked head. Women simply had no say in the matter.
Fortunately times and attitudes have changed, and bridal veils have changed with them. Now those lovely veils are not about concealing anyone's face, looking ahead to one's deathbed, or any other non-elegant reason. Today, bridal veils are all about beauty and a bride's personal expression--just as they should be.
Thanks for visiting the "Wedding Woods." If planning your own wedding, be sure to check out my latest wedding planning articles. I hope you find them helpful.
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Posted by Tricia Spencer
Hello! My name is Tricia, and I am Suite101's Wedding Planning Feature Writer.
Getting married is a time of enchantment, and here in the Wedding Woods, we will explore traditional, historical and imaginative wedding ideas. A forest is filled with a bounty of beautiful trees, flowers and woodland creatures, and its diversity is its greatest treasure. Diversity also reigns supreme in the Wedding Woods where there will be a cornucopia of wedding musings, delights and possibilites.
Here in my Wedding Woods blog, I will discuss the wonderful world of weddings, answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability and share some of the treasures from my personal wedding memorabilia collection.
In the years following my own wedding, I found myself deeply enmeshed in the wedding experience--from owning and operating wedding limousines to creating and marketing my own line of whimisical wedding accessories, collectively called "For Just a Bit of Wedding Wit." Now my goal is to help you have the wedding you deserve by sharing insights, imagination and solutions.
If you have questions about the information provided in any of my wedding articles, this is the place to ask them. From bridal arches to decorative parasols to wedding insurance, and all other wedding-planning ideas in between, I hope you find something here to help make your wedding day as memorable and as glorious as you've always dreamed it would be.
A few of my favorite photos from my own wedding are below. The words written in gold script on the photo with the tree are: "...and as this tree shall grow fuller and stronger, so shall we..." We recited those words in unison as part of our ceremony after we'd watered the 25 baby trees gathered at the altar. We each watered the 12 trees on our respective side then came together for our special tree. After the wedding, we gave the other 24 trees to friends and family, and because so many of our guests had to travel to share in our wedding day, the trees ended up being planted in 7 different states. Oh, the memories....
Thank you for visiting the Weddng Woods! I hope you visit often.
My website: triciaspencer.net
The copyright of every entry in this blog is owned by Tricia Spencer. Permission to republish any part in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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