Weddings Traditions – why does the bride carry a bouquet?
Why does the bride carry a bouquet?
One of the reasons that brides carried bouquets was born out of the ‘necessity’ of covering odor, trying to smell pretty on that special day. Ever take a tour in one of the older cities in Europe, let’s say Edinburgh for example? It was a very odiferous lifestyle way back then! In the 1600’s and for a very long time afterwards, people bathed extremely infrequently. According to the Huffington Post, during the 15th century, people took their yearly baths in May and would generally get married in June. Just to be safe, brides carried bouquets to mask the smell of body odor. You will find this reason repeatedly if you research the tradition behind the bride carrying a bouquet.
Another old and popular custom for carrying a bouquet, was to ward of evil spirits. Usually these bouquets were made from very pungent herbs, spices and yes, garlic could be involved. I am thinking that you could kill two birds with one stone with a garlic bouquet; evil spirits and evil odor could be knocked out with one bouquet! Oh the old days! Sometimes the spices/flowers that were included in the bouquet, for example; dill and marigolds (edible) were added and subsequently served up at the wedding feast to promote lust. So think about the fun that you can have with your bouquet. Specially in San Diego, CA, where you can find wide range of spices and flowers freshly picked from a farm!
