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| Bridal Bouquets | • The wearing of a borrowed belonging demonstrates community participation in and approval of the wedding.
• Blue is worn because it is the color that signifies purity, love, and fidelity.
Groom's Cake
The tradition of the wedding cake was brought to the New World by the Pilgrims-and it was fruit cake!
- It was not until the 1800s, with the advent of white flour, baking powder, and baking soda that the white cake remained and became known as the groom's cake.
- It was placed beside the bride's cake at the reception, boxed, and given to guest as a favor.
- Legend has it that single guests who placed the boxed cake under their pillow would dream of their intended; hence, it became known as dreaming bread.
Jumping the Broom
This African tradition is one that's become a part of many African-American weddings.
- At the end of the ceremony, the couple jumps over the broom that's placed at their feet.
- The broom, in many regions of Africa, symbolized beginning life with a clean slate, of sweeping away evil spirit, and starting a new home with its many responsibilities.
- In the United States, when slavery prevented couples from legally marrying, they jumped the broom to seal their vows.
"Bridal"
- In the ancient world, there was no marriage, if a man wanted a wife; he simply raided the nearest village and captured her.
- In Israel, when a man raided a village and escaped with a wife, he spent the night (or moon) with her in seclusion drinking mead, a liquor made from fermented honey.
- The drink was called bride ale (the origin of the world bridal) and the night of liquor-drinking seclusion became as the honeymoon.
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