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British Wedding Traditions

The word 'wed' means to unite closely, to join in marriage, to marry.

British Wedding Traditions The ceremony of 'Marriage' in Britain had a significant development in the Middle Ages when the Church found it necessary to create marriage ceremonies and legislation to make marriage, a legal and binding contract. Prior to this, various traditions in various countries, allowed marriage by verbal consent, with no real means of confirmation and legality.

The Church therefore established the tradition we have today of public ceremonies in the presence of a priest and witnesses to a marriage and by the twelfth century, ecclesiastical wedding ceremonies had become common in Europe.

The ceremony of getting married in Britain in the 21st Century is made up of traditions, folklore and ritual. These date back to the Middle Ages and it's important to understand how life was in the Middle Ages (a time when evil spirits and magic charms were believed to rule our lives) to be able to understand the basis of some of the rituals and superstitions now associated with a modern marriage ceremony.

It was believed that evil spirits lurked close to people during rites of passage (the marking of the end of one life and the beginning of the next) so it was very important for good luck charms and rituals to be employed to keep the bride and groom safe on their wedding day and to ensure their future happiness.

A marriage in Britain can be a religious ceremony or a civil ceremony. A religious ceremony is conducted in a Church, whilst a civil ceremony can be in a Registry Office or place that has been licensed to hold civil ceremonies, which can now be as diverse as a British Zoo or in a British double decker bus. The possibility to marry in places other than a Church or Registry Office is allowed because of the 1994 Marriage Act.

The Proposal and Engagement

In the Middle Ages it was often that a woman was 'kidnapped' by her groom. A single woman was a very valuable asset to her family - to do the work and work the soil - so many families were reluctant to let their single daughters leave the family to get married. Therefore a man, accompanied by his best friend, who would stand by him in case a fight broke out, would take his bride by force. (This led to the tradition of 'Best Man' - someone who would stand by the groom to protect him and look after him). The Ushers or Groomsmen also stem from this 'kidnapping'.

A family having lost their very valuable labour asset of a daughter would then demand a 'payment' from the groom to be - this payment was to compensate for the employment of another to do the work previously carried out by the daughter. A time period was arranged for the man to pay for his bride (nowawadays referred to as the 'Engagement') and in the Middle Ages gold rings were used as currency - so a gold ring was given to the family in payment for the bride and is the reason why a gold ring is now placed on the third finger of the left hand. The unbroken circle is also an age old symbol of 'Eternity'. The tradition of placing the Wedding Ring on the third finger of the left hand is perhaps because during Medieval Times, a ring was placed on three of the bride's fingers in turn to represent the Holy Trinity -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps it's because as far back as the ancient Romans who believed that the vein in the third finger ran directly to the heart, so the wearing of rings on that finger joined the couple's hearts and destinies.

The earliest rings have been found in Egyptian tombs - these were usually signet rings and were worn with a crest or pattern to identify the wearer and were used to authenticate documents.

Often Gimmal Rings which are a set of three interlocking rings, were separated and worn in Elizabethan times by the bride to be, the groom

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