Hello, friends! Happy Tuesday. I don't have much time today because I am on my way to Bible study, but I thought I would do another "Just Wondering" post. I wonder about a lot of things. Last night I was watching "Spring Baking Championship" on Food Network. They were making cakes that look like spring bouquets. Hmm... I thought about different bouquets and googled the word bouquet. The topic of wedding bouquets came up and I thought, "Well why did I have to carry a bunch of flowers down the aisle?" So here is the answer.
In ancient times it was important in a marriage to have children. People lived shorter lives than we do today and life was much harder. One of the few highlights of life on this earth was two people joining together to create a family and have children. People had strong superstitions. They believed the pagan gods had to be bribed and mollified to be good to them. One of the gifts they would give to these gods was a handful of wheat sheaves made into a garland or crown with fragrant herbs.
The origin of a bridal bouquet goes back to ancient Rome. Along with herbs, they would add roses or orange blossoms to these garlands in order to promote fertility and good fortune. Strands of ivy were also added to symbolize a strong bond between the two people and white blossoms symbolized happiness.
Faithfulness and fertility were the top virtues of the ancient marriages. These were symbolized throughout the wedding ceremony by this garland or crown the bride was wearing. By the Middle Ages, these crowns had turned into a bouquet which the bride would carry during the ceremony. The content of the bouquet had also changed. They now included herbs like dill (which was considered an aphrodisiac), thistle and rosemary (for protection), ivy (a strong bond) and even garlic.
Why does the bride toss the bouquet? (Which, by the way, I didn't because I personally HATE that tradition.) This began during the Middle Ages when it was considered good luck to touch the bride's dress (or even cut a piece of it off to keep!). Brides began throwing their bouquets as a diversion to keep the people from destroying her clothing. Hmm... I might have thrown that bouquet if people were coming at me with scissors and cutting part of my dress off while I was still wearing it!
After the 17th century flowers began to replace the herbs and grains. The bouquets began as small creations slowly getting larger and more elaborate by the 19th century.
When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, she added a sprig of myrtle to her bouquet. Since that time every British royal bride has had a sprig of myrtle from that same bush in their bridal bouquets. And since the early 20th century royal brides have laid their bouquet on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey even if their wedding did not take place there.
All this information is from the newsletter Petal Talk published online by 1-800-flowers. So interesting. Now I know and so do you.
Hope you liked this fun post. I will be back soon with more. See you then.
Kathy
