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.