With the popularity of shows like “Say Yes to the Dress,” and “Four Weddings,” we see women’s craze for having a wedding of their dreams. Teenage girls are no strangers to talking about their future dream wedding and looking at wedding dresses with their friends. How did weddings get so grand? What is the source of this myriad of traditions? The study of the modern wedding is a study of the history of Western civilization. Most America’s wedding traditions stem from Roman practices to medieval Europe. The factors that contribute to our sense of a modern wedding include the wedding dress, cake, the changing of rings, the wedding vows, and of course, the romance.
When one considers the long history of weddings, the white wedding dress is a comparatively modern tradition. Before the Victorian age, women typically wore the best dress in their wardrobes to their wedding. This practice changed when Queen Victoria wore a white wedding dress for her wedding ceremony Prince Albert of Sax-Coburt in 1840. Members of the court thought the dress was too understated for the big affair, but a few years later a women’s magazine stated that white was a fitting color for bride, and projects a sense of youth and innocence. The modern wedding dress not only emulates the color of Queen Victoria’s, …show more content…
In aristocratic society in medieval times, marriages were arranged for political alliance, and were not considered concrete until consummated. Intercourse was the binding factor, and marriages could be annulled if sex never happened. The poor had more choice in their partners, but marriage was still often arranged for convenience. These marriages were not legal, but were considered binding if the woman and husband if lived together and called husband and wife. This is the origin of the common law marriage (Umstattd,
When one considers the long history of weddings, the white wedding dress is a comparatively modern tradition. Before the Victorian age, women typically wore the best dress in their wardrobes to their wedding. This practice changed when Queen Victoria wore a white wedding dress for her wedding ceremony Prince Albert of Sax-Coburt in 1840. Members of the court thought the dress was too understated for the big affair, but a few years later a women’s magazine stated that white was a fitting color for bride, and projects a sense of youth and innocence. The modern wedding dress not only emulates the color of Queen Victoria’s, …show more content…
In aristocratic society in medieval times, marriages were arranged for political alliance, and were not considered concrete until consummated. Intercourse was the binding factor, and marriages could be annulled if sex never happened. The poor had more choice in their partners, but marriage was still often arranged for convenience. These marriages were not legal, but were considered binding if the woman and husband if lived together and called husband and wife. This is the origin of the common law marriage (Umstattd,