American Wedding
All wedding traditions are different from each other. From one culture to another, different countries, different nations, all have their own wedding practices that make them unique from one another. Even weddings within the same country sometimes differ in small or even a lot of ways. Some cultures practice very conservative wedding traditions with all their national costumes and rituals while some countries are more modern and liberated in celebrating the union of a man and woman. An American wedding in particular is a “joyous occasion” celebrating the union of love between two people. Joined by the couple’s family and friends, the wedding ceremony, no matter how simple, is usually always followed by a grand party where there’s lots of dancing, eating, drinking and merriment to commemorate the special day.
A traditional American wedding starts off with a bridal shower. This custom began in the 1890s wherein the bride and her friends have a chance to bond and celebrate their friendship for the last time before she becomes a married woman and may not have as much time to party anymore. The friends give the bride small presents placed on a wedding parasol wherein they are then poured unto the bride’s head for the gifts and blessings to “shower” down on her. Thus, the name bridal shower.
After the bridal shower, the bridal party follows which in the Anglo-Saxon times where it started, the groom acted as the bride’s knight, escorting her safely to the wedding ceremony and their home right after, to avoid being attacked by enemies or the dowry being stolen by thieves. In modern times, a bridal shower means heavy partying, drinking and having a “good time.”
As with most cultures, an American bride wears a veil in respect of traditional wedding customs. In the olden times in some cultures, the groom is not allowed to see and in fact had not met his future wife up until the wedding day itself. The bride is therefore made to wear a veil at the ceremony to cover her face lest the groom dislikes her and refuses to marry. Though utterly patriarchal and discriminating, it was the practice before. Modern times and more open-minded cultures have risen beyond this kind of bondage though and treat both man and women as equals, giving both individuals the freedom to choose who, where or how to marry.
Like most wedding traditions too, a typical American wedding is celebrated in a church with the couple’s family and friends to witness the happy event. The priest leads the ceremony with the best man, maid of honor, bride’s maids, flower girls and other entourage assist the bride and groom throughout the affair. The basic wedding rituals of exchanging rings, candle and cord are performed after which the bride and groom exchange their sweet “I dos” to spend eternity in love to the delight of the guests and of course, the newly married couple.