CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

 

The marriage and weddings process was very different from modern day Britain now.  The Church's law dictated that all that made a legal marriage was the consent of two people.

 

If a couple decided to get married in a church there were strict rules that they had to follow. There were certain days, such as Holy Days, on which they could not get married. Also, before the marriage, the couple had to attend church for three Holy Days leading up to their marriage.

 

AGE OF CONSENT

The age of consent was very different, Richard of Shrewsbury, the son of King Edward IV was only five years old when he married the four-year-old Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk. Both children would never co-habit together until a mature age. However, due to their marriage, the King would have control of the wealth that came with Anne. In general, the minimum age was twelve for a girl and fourteen for boys, when it came to sex in marriage. Girls were expected to bare a son and carry on the male bloodline for the husband. Once married, the law gave a husband full rights over his wife. She effectively became his property. 

 

FINANCIAL OBLIGATION 

At the betrothal, the groom was expected to do a payment, liken to a  deposit, which would strengthen his commitment to the bride. Should in return out for whatever reason, he was obligated to pay a fee, four times the sum or its equivalent, that he had originally paid. There was also the dowry, gifts of money or goods made from the bride’s family to the new household.

 

CHOICES

Many marriages were organised by family members. The family's preferences and choices were Influenced by the wealth they would attain by through the marriage match or a rise in status for their family. If a couple wished to break off the marriage or to separate they had to take their matter to the Church court. Then later have a have a marriage annulled the person had would have to prove that they were insane when they married, or they were too closely related to their new spouse, or that the marriage had never been consummated, Not a very comfortable process. 

 

Henry VIII famously broke with Rome when he sought an annulment of his marriage from his first wife Catherine of Aragon, turning the whole church upside down. 

 

CEREMONY

The most important part of the marriage service was a full form of trothplight, in which both partners promised to love and cherish each other until death in both sickness and health. The woman also undertook to obey her husband. The man then gave the woman the wedding ring, putting it on the fourth finger of her left hand. He declared that he endowed her with all his worldly goods. The priest pronounced the couple man and wife and invoked God’s blessing upon them.

 

WEDDING DRESS

 The bride rarely bought a special wedding dress, she would go to their best outfit instead. Green was always avoided, as it was thought to be unlucky. To say a girl 'had a green gown' also suggested that she was of loose morals because her dress would be grass-stained due to rolling around in the fields! Hence 'Marry in Green, ashamed to be seen'. White Dresses were made popular by Queen Victoria, who broke the tradition of royals marrying in Silver.

 

THE BEDDING CEREMONY 

This was a  wedding custom of putting the newlywed couple together in the marital bed before numerous witnesses, thereby completing the marriage. The consummation itself, meaning. the couple's first sexual intercourse was not witnessed in most of Western Europe. The original purpose of the bedding ceremony was to establish the consummation of the marriage, without which the union could be annulled

 

In England, the ceremony usually started with a priest blessing the bed, after which the newly-weds prepared themselves for bed and drank sweet and spicy wine. The groomsmen and the bridesmaids then sat on the sides of the bed and threw the couple's stockings at them; a hit was believed to indicate that the thrower would soon marry. Finally, the curtains were drawn around the bed and the couple were left alone Many refused to take part in the bedding ceremony, King Charles 1st notably barred the door of his bedroom but despite his rejection, the custom remained in force for another century among all social classes, including the royal family.

 

Theo old tradition of tying old shoes to the back of the couple's car stems from Tudor times when guests would throw shoes at the bride & groom, with great luck being bestowed on them if they or their carriage were hit!

 

WEDDING CAKE

The Wedding Cake was originally lots of little wheat cakes that were broken over the Bride's head to bestow good luck and fertility.

Wedding Veil OOne wedding superstition about the wedding veil is that it was once thought that brides were very vulnerable to evil spirits and many customs were originated to fight off these evil spirits for the bride. The bride’s veil was an attempt to disguise her face to fool the evil spirits.

 

FLOWERS

Flowers have always been a part of weddings. This stems from the medieval tradition of a Knight wearing his Lady's colours, as a declaration of his love. Each flower has its own meaning and can display a special message