Category
Love & Marriage
Romantic customs and wedding traditions. Explore the curious history of courtship, tokens of affection and marriage rituals, and discover why we still follow customs whose original meanings may surprise us.
Why Did Victorians Send Insulting Valentine’s Cards?
Why did Victorians send insulting Valentine’s cards? Discover the mocking vinegar valentines that carried anonymous jokes, rejection and criticism.
5 min read · WELL SUPPORTED — surviving cards document the custom; individual senders’ intentions often unknownWhy Did Welsh Sweethearts Give Each Other Wooden Spoons?
Why did Welsh sweethearts exchange carved lovespoons? Discover their courtship history, intricate designs and the evidence behind their meanings.
5 min read · WELL SUPPORTED — courtship tradition documented; earliest origins and some symbolic meanings uncertainWhy Do We Have Wedding Cakes?
Before there were tiers, sugar flowers and photographs of the first slice, wedding food could include oysters, meat and a rather alarming surprise hidden inside a pie.
4 min read · WELL SUPPORTED — British development documented; a single ancient origin unprovenWas the Best Man Originally There to Protect the Bridegroom?
Was the best man once an armed bodyguard? Explore Chambers’s Swedish wedding story, the Scottish name and why the claimed origin remains unproven.
5 min read · UNKNOWN — armed-escort story recorded; direct origin unprovenWhy Did Scots Make Newlywed Men Run Through Town Carrying Stones?
Why did Scottish bridegrooms carry baskets of stones? Discover creeling, the kiss that could release them, and what the historical accounts actually say.
5 min read · DOCUMENTED custom — original origins uncertainWhy Do Brides Wear White?
The white wedding dress feels so traditional that it is easy to imagine brides have always worn one.
4 min read · WELL SUPPORTEDWhy Is the Wedding Ring Worn on the Fourth Finger?
Place your wedding ring on the fourth finger of your left hand and most people in Britain will know exactly what it means.
4 min read · WELL SUPPORTED — but the “vein of love” is not realWhy Do Brides Need “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue”?
Something old.
4 min read · DOCUMENTED — meanings partly later interpretationWhy Do We Throw Rice at Weddings?
The newly married couple step outside.
4 min read · WELL SUPPORTEDWhy Does the Groom Carry the Bride Over the Threshold?
The wedding is over.
4 min read · DOCUMENTED custom — explanation disputedWhy Do Bridesmaids Traditionally Dress Alike?
One bride.
4 min read · WELL SUPPORTED modern tradition — popular ancient origin unprovenWhy Does the Bride Throw Her Bouquet?
The bride turns her back.
4 min read · DOCUMENTED modern custom — earlier origin uncertainWhy Is It Called a Honeymoon?
Honey.
4 min read · WELL SUPPORTED — and much less romantic than people think