Wedding Traditions

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price (money or barter) to be

paid by the groom to the bride’s father” (Kendrick).

There are equally surprising origins for such traditions as the ring finger, wedding

ring, engagement ring (and its diamond), and wedding cake. For example, the finger

used as the ring finger differs from culture to culture. In Greece during the third century

the index finger was used. In India they used the thumb. The “modern” ring finger

started being used in the fourth century when the Greeks originated the belief that the

third finger was connected to the heart by the “vena amoris,” or the vein of love.

(Kendrick).
Use of a wedding ring can be traced back to Roman times, and even back then it

was made of gold. Roman rings were often decorated with a carving of two hands to

symbolize two people journeying through life together as one. Early women’s rings also

had keys carved in them, symbolizing that ...

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of the

couple’s first child, an event that normally occurred about a year after the marriage.

A wedding cake is for the most part white. Many would probably say this was to

symbolize purity or virginity, but there was actually an economic reason for it. In

Victorian times, "ingredients for the wedding cake were much harder to acquire,

especially for the icing. White icing meant that only the finest refined sugar was used,

and so the whiter the cake, the more affluent the families involved were perceived,”

(Cake).

Today, most couples have the opportunity to meet and get to know each other

(often quite well). However, this ...

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