Weddings on the Peninsula
It’s a nice day for a wild wedding
With so many wedding traditions, it got us thinking where they originated from. So we picked the quirkiest ones to explore.
Did you know that the term ‘best man’ dates back to the times when Scotsmen would kidnap their future brides? The friends of the groom would all attempt an ‘abduction’, and the friend who succeeded was acclaimed to be the best man. We’re pretty glad the best man’s role nowadays is to plan the buck’s night and support the groom — minus abducting his future Mrs. And at the altar, the groom would always stand on the bride’s right side so his right hand —or rather, his sword hand — would be free to fight and defend himself from a
jealous rival. It sounds like a very violent “I object!” moment to us, and we can’t help but wonder what would happen if the groom was left-handed. The Irish would take a hen that was about to lay an egg and tie it to the wedding bed to ensure fertility. Now there’s an interesting bed buddy. At ancient Roman wedding ceremonies, the wedding would be finalised by the breaking of a cake made from wheat or barely over the bride’s head as a symbol of good fortune. It sounds cute, but the earliest known recipe for a British wedding cake, also known as a bride’s pye, was a mixture of cockscombs, lamb’s testicles, sweetbreads, oysters and spices. Yeah, we’ll be sticking to the modern-day traditional fruit cake with white icing, thank you very much.
Issue 93, AUGUST 2019
www.morningtonpeninsulamagazine.com.au
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