WEDDING CUSTOMS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3263, 14 May 1943, Page 2

WEDDING CUSTOMS

INTEREST TO BRIDES-TO-BE

“FROM THIS DAY FORWARD”

There are so many wedding customs throughout the. world that it would take a whole-book to tell you all of them, but here are a few from here and there which may interest brides-to-be.

The custom of throwing confetti—a custom so disliked by church officials these days—goes back to Saxon days, when rose .petals were used to strew the path of the bride and groom. Later there came the Chinese custom of throwing rice for luck, but as this custom grew unpopular with the years, it was later replaced by the custom of throwing confetti. And what sight is prettier than a newly-wed. pair dodging and laughing- in their efforts to avoid ■ the showers of brightly-coloured confetti.

Rosemary has long been carried by ' brides at the'ir weddings, as an omen of good luck, and- because it symbolises remembrance and enduring love.

Perhaps the most picturesque wedding custom comes from a ‘Slavonic .State in what was once AustroHungary, a State called Moravia. These people have an old belief that if the bride takes a devious route from her old home to her new home it will mean that she will always take the long road to future happiness, and. so risk missing happiness altogether. So the Moravians take coloured chalk, and mark out the shortest route to the new home, and the beginning of the pathway is decorated with the chalks so that it resembles a patterned carpet. Another curious custom of these folk shows us with what solemnity they view marriage; For they allow three days after the engagement so. that the parents of the engaged couple may change their- minds if they wish to. And on the third day the young man sends along a friend of his to find out if luck-is still with him! There is a curious custpm - followed in China. After the marriage, when the bride goes to her future home, she has to walk through a screen of smoke before she enters. A large bowl full of straw is placed outside the door, and this is set alight when the bride arrives. By walking through this smoke screen the Chinese believe that all her past life is destroyed, and she-is ready to start afresh in her new home. So many age-old customs survive, although their origin is now long forgotten. To awake on her wedding morning to hear a bird singing is always a very happy omen, while -if a bride discovers a spider anywhere on her clothes, it means that she will always be blessed with worldly goods. Do you know the story behind the kiss at the altar? It is a very old story, and history tells us that once upon a time When it was usual to invite the blessing of the church upon the serious in life, if the couple had not enough money to buy a wedding ring, then they were betrothed when the man gave the woman a kiss in the presence of wit-

nesses. It is a rule throughout all British countries that the de or of the church or registry office must be left open during the ceremony, so that any person who has a lawful objection is able to enter to lodge the protest.

So much for wedding customs. But here is a reminder of 'he age-cld custom which is still observed by almost every bride even to-day, tne little rhyme that goes:

“Something old, something new, Something borrowed, and something blue.”