As reported in a February, 1840 edition of The London Times, Queen Victoria’s wedding cake was more than nine feet in circumference. A second tier arose from this “plateau,” supported by two pedestals. On the second tier was a sculpture of the mythical heroine Britannia gazing upon the royal pair frozen at the moment of their exchanging vows. At their feet were two turtle doves (symbolizing purity and innocence) and a dog (representing faithful attachment). Completing the scene were various sculpted Cupids, one of them writing the date of the wedding with a stylus on a tablet.
I don’t think our kids know what an apron is or at least what it was used for. The principal use of an apron was to protect the dress underneath. Yes the dress. When women stated wearing pants and jeans, aprons kind of drifted away.
Grandma
The expression “tying the knot” actually dates back to Roman Times when the bride wore a girdle secured by a knot. On the wedding night, the groom then had the honors of “untying the knot.” The couple’s lives were then tied together. Rituals of binding were also popular in ancient Carthage. The couple’s thumbs were laced together with a strip of leather. In India, the Hindu groom knotted a ribbon around his bride’s neck, and once tied, the marriage was legal and binding. For much of history the rope was the most powerful way to connect things and people. So, it made sense to talk about “tying the knot.”
The Unity Candle symbolizes the joining together of two separate families and has become increasingly popular over the years. Basically, its a tall candle that stands, unlit, between two smaller, lit candles during the ceremony. One of these smaller candles is placed in the bride’s side and the other is on the groom’s side. After you are pronounced husband and wife, you each take your respective candle, meet at the Unity Candle and light it with your joined flames. Some brides and grooms choose to light the Unity Candle on their own, while others have parents and other members of their families join them. For those couples marrying for the second time, it is an especially appropriate way to include children from their first marriages in the ceremony and to acknowledge the uniting of two families as one
