Origins Of The June Bride

“Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you’ll go.” That line comes from a popular poem about wedding months and is indicative of the popularity of a June bride and her wedding. The month of June is by far the most popular month in which to wed, followed by August and then July. In fact, the month of June is so popular, we have all heard the term June Bride, but have you ever heard of the August Bride?
So how did June become the month of choice for many brides to wed?

Early Roman Empire

It’s believed that the June wedding dates back over 2000 years ago to the early Roman Empire, as they celebrated on June 1st a festival by honoring the deity Juno. Juno was the wife of Jupiter, and was known as the goddess of marriage and childbirth. In fact, they avoided the month of May altogether because May was the month of the “unhappy dead” and was not seen as a time to celebrate.

The 15th and 16th Centuries
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the month of June was known for people to escape from the winter season and come outdoors. In addition, they would bathe communally, thus being freshly clean in time for a wedding. With flowers reaching their blooming season at this time, it was believed that the scents of the flowers were used at weddings to help overcome any body odor that maybe present.

Pre-Contraceptive Times

During the pre-contraceptive times, getting married in the month of June often meant that children were born in the spring time, allowing them to not be infants during the cold of the winter but rather as the warmer months begin. Also, by giving birth in the spring time meant that the fall harvest wouldn’t be disrupted as it was the busiest time of the calendar year for most. Now whether the harvest notion was planned that way or not is unknown, but a long standing theory.

Weddings Were Not Always Romantic

Weddings in general weren’t romantic the way we know them today. In fact, weddings back in the day were actually business deals that took place between the groom’s family and the bride’s father, while the couple stood by. Back then, women were also considered to be her father’s property and that’s why you see in today’s wedding ceremonies the father walking his daughter down the aisle and handing her over to the groom as he “gives her away.”

In the past, cultures handled engagements differently. In some cultures the groom would pay the bride’s father a dowry, or pay for her hand in marriage. Often it was in the form of farm animals or the groom’s labor on the farm. Other cultures had the father of the bride giving the groom’s family a dowry, as well as his daughter.

Some of the wedding traditions from the past could be considered dangerous. For example, a wealthier bride could find herself kidnapped on her way to the wedding ceremony and returned for a ransom. That is how the bridesmaid and their dresses came about. Back in the day, the bridesmaids wore the same dress as the bride to confuse potential kidnappers as well as evil spirits. This is the same reason as to why the groom stands on the right side during the ceremony. This allows his right hand to be free to grab his sword to fight off would be kidnappers that may attack during the ceremony itself.

Today’s Wedding Ceremonies

In modern days, outside of some cultures, the wedding ceremony is no longer viewed as a business contract but one of a romantic gesture. However, many of the past traditions that had a particular purpose is often still in effect, but more out of tradition instead of necessity.
The month of June has also been brought to the forefront even more thanks to the 1948 movie starring Montgomery Clift and Bette Davis, “June Bride,” where the movie depicted the reinforcement of the month of June with the romance of weddings. Others followed suit as can be seen in the musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” in 1954 as it include the musical piece, “June Bride.”
Also of note, if you are looking to have your own June wedding, be sure to plan ahead. If June is so popular, then so are wedding photographers and they get booked up quickly. If you’re doing a destination wedding, such as in Maui, get your Maui wedding photographer as soon as you can.