Tradition-regulated ceremonies joining couples in marriage. Weddings have generated
rich folklore that crosses all cultures with variations and often contradictions.
Symbolizing the transfer of a woman to her husband’s family, weddings follow a
prescribed set of rituals and superstitions that people believe will ensure happiness and
safety for the couple.
Basic themes of folktales about weddings include the enchantment motif of marriages,
with animals who transform into humans who had been held under spells, brides who
marry a hero who saved their life, and grooms who undergo an initiation rite or solve
riddles to win the bride.
Modern weddings have mythological and historical precedents. The wedding date is a
crucial decision. Only certain months and days, depending on the couple’s culture, are
acceptable. When agriculture dominated daily life, winter weddings were considered to
be best: “When December’s showers fall fast, Marry and true love will last.” Weddings coinciding with the new moon ensured fertility.
The site of the wedding also is important. Churches have replaced the older
ceremonial location in the town square or near the tombstones of the couple’s ancestors.
Modern “church wedding” sites include the Las Vegas wedding chapels that add
eccentricities to traditional wedding lore. Once the couple establishes a date and a place, weather predicts the climate of their marriage: If a thunderstorm rages during the
ceremony, for example, in one belief, the couple will be barren.
Superstitious taboos, such as the bride not baking her wedding cake or making her gown, regulate prenuptial activity. The bride is also warned
not to use her married surname or to wear her bridal gown before she is wed for fear of
jinxing the ceremony. The participants’ garb is also strictly regulated by custom. The
well-known phrase “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something
blue” dictates the basics of most bride’s wardrobes. The wedding gown’s color is
especially crucial to depict chastity; popular rhymes note that “Married in white, you
have chosen all right” but warn that “Married in pink, your fortunes will sink.”
Brides also adorn their attire with trinkets and may wear a coin in a shoe in order to
promise wealth. Some brides even carry sugar lumps in their gloves to ensure sweetness
in their marriage, and many brides wear at least one item, often a veil, borrowed from a
happily married woman.
Folk taboos about the bride include the warnings that she must not see the groom
before the wedding, sometimes carried to the extreme of arranging for a proxy at the
wedding rehearsal. This custom derives from protective customs to prevent brides from being abducted. Stories about the groom distinguishing his bride from a group of veiled
women continues this theme and seems to be the basis for having several bridesmaids.
The wedding procession must carefully approach the church, and if a toad hops across the
couple’s path, some say, they will have good luck. The opposite is true if they encounter
a funeral procession.
The couple should begin walking toward the altar on their right foot to the strains of
the traditional wedding march, and it is a common tradition that the marriage will be a
happy one if the couple’s feet point in the same direction as the floor boards of the
church. Gold rings, symbolizing the nobility and continuity of the union, are placed on
the hands according to the couple’s cultural customs. The bride is advised to cry to banish
sadness for the remainder of her marriage.
In some cultures, the couple jump forward, or backward, over a broom handle to seal
their vows. An old custom, seldom observed, requires that an older unmarried sister of
the bride must “dance in the pig trough” during the wedding.
The wedding reception provides more folklore, mostly concerning the wedding cake.
One popular belief says that if the bride cuts the cake first, with the groom placing his
hand over hers, their marriage will be cooperative. This ritual also ensures fertility. Some
traditions urge the couple to fast, while others insist that they eat their entire meal for
good luck. Trinkets in the shape of rings, horseshoes, and cupids are often baked inside
the cake. Cages of doves promote a harmonious home. In the Jewish community,
breaking a glass promises luck and a lasting marriage. The wedding dance validates the
couple’s union.
As the couple depart for the honeymoon, guests throw rice or seeds to ensure fertility
and prosperity. Bells and fireworks blare as protective magic against any ill wishes cast
against the couple. Whoever catches the bride’s bouquet (tossed over her head while she
is facing away from the unmarried women at the reception) is commonly believed to be
the next who will marry
Many newlyweds exit the church under arches—swords or rifles if the groom is a
military man—symbolizing their completing the rite of passage. Guests frequently
decorate the honeymoon car, retaining aspects of the charivari (shivaree) during which
the couple were serenaded loudly by friends.
Elizaheth D.Schafer
References
Baker, Margaret. 1977. Wedding Customs and Folklore. Vancouver: David and Charles.
Dick, Ernst S. 1966. The Bridesman in the Indo-European Tradition: Ritual and Myth in Marriage
Ceremonies. Journal of American Folklore 79:338–347.
Higgins, Rodney. 1984. The Plant-Lore of Courtship and Marriage. In Plant-Lore Studies, ed. Roy
Vickery. London: Folklore Society, pp. 94–110.
Röhrich, Lutz. 1991. Folktales and Reality, trans. Peter Tokofsky. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press.
Vickers, Carol. 1985. Something Old, Something New: Folklore in Matrimony. Mississippi
Folklore Register 19:61–65.