American Wedding Traditions

An American wedding is a happy, joyous occasion involving a number of people. American wedding tradition is a happy time and celebration time as two newly weds unites together into a sacred bondage of love and life. Traditional American Wedding is about Bridal shower, Bridal Party, The veil, kissing the bride, the groom's cake and the honeymoon.

Initially Bridal Shower proposed to brace the friendships between the bride and her female friends. In the 1890s it evolved into an event for friends to present the bride-to-be with small gifts. The gifts were placed in a parasol, which was released above the brides head, allowing the gifts to "shower" down on her.

Again Bridal Party tradition commenced from the Anglo-Saxon custom of a groom using "Brides knights" to make certain that the bride head for the ceremony and then back to her husband's home without being attacked and the dowry stolen. Now bridal party is all about celebration and enjoyment.

Even today it is mandatory for every American bride to be to wear a Veil. Traditionally it meant that the broom didn't see the bride until the wedding ceremony. It was thought that if the broom had seen the bride before the ceremony was over and didn't like her, he might refuse to get married. So the veil was not lifted until after the ceremony and this is functional even today in modern American wedding.

Traditional American weddings are organized in a place of worship like in a church, where family and friends assemble. Here comes the best man, flower girls, exchanging vows and rings, and the wedding music. The wedding ceremony is conducted by the priest. He formally asks the invitees whether they have any objection for this marriage and getting the positive response from the invitees the priest asks the couple to exchange wedding rings and then the couple is marked as husband and wife. Traditionally the newlyweds kiss to seal their union; this is the concept of Kissing the bride.

The groom's Cake is cut post wedding a piece of the cake is distributed amongst each guest as a memento of the wedding. The belief goes that if a woman slept with a piece of the groom's cake under her pillow, she would dream about the man she would marry. Honeymoon meant the newly married couples to drinks a fermented wine made from mead and honey for a month (moon) following their wedding. Now its all about going for a month long vacation and spending time with each other.

As the couple leaves the church, they are showered with rice or wheat which is recognized as the symbols of fertility. Then the couple organizes a reception party where all family members and friends of two families dine, enjoy and makes merry. Another American Wedding tradition is to collect money in a wedding wheel for honeymoon from the guests. The guests form two lines, and they pay a dollar or more to dance with the newlyweds.

An American wedding does not follow any rigid customs; it is more of wedding of personal preference. It is mandatory to have a wedding certificate and everything else is up to the couples. The usual attire since ancient times is a white pretty gown for brides and black or blue suit for grooms, this tradition is followed religiously in America.

Travour.com describes and provides information on the wedding traditions of America and around the world.

Here are some Wedding Traditions performed around the world