How did the wedding ring and gown originate?

Please ma, how did the wedding ring originate and hasn’t the wedding gown outlived its usefulness since there are hardly pure brides these days? – Uche, Ibadan (08097724479).

 

The Origin of the Wedding Ring

Many of the wedding traditions that we follow today date back to centuries past, while others are only a few years old. The exchanging of rings, depending on which explanation you believe, is one of the oldest marital traditions around. One version of the origin of the wedding ring states that, during prehistoric times, the groom would bind the bride’s ankles and wrists with grass, to keep her soul from escaping (some say it was really to keep her from running away!). Once the ceremony was complete, he would remove the rope, and tie it to one of her fingers. This tradition gradually evolved from grass, to rope, to leather, and finally, to a metal band. Another story comes from the ancient Romans, who placed a ring on the third finger, because it was believed to house the “Vena Amoris” or the “Vein of Love,” which ran directly to the heart. They chose the left hand, because the heart was then believed to be on the left side of the chest. These traditions were spread ’round the world, as new lands were discovered; thus, we have the tradition of the wedding band that is still highly recognized today across many religions and cultures.

As to whether the wedding gown has outlived its usefulness, it depends on the colour we’re talking about here. Somebody who knows has something to say: Since the tradition of wearing a white dress has nothing to do with virginity at all, then yes.

The white dress was orignally a symbol of weath, since white fabric was expensive and the dress would only be worn once. The wealthier families showed they could spend a large sum of money on a dress for one day that would never be worn again by purchasing a white dress. It wasn’t until a couple of queens wore white dresses, and their photographs widely publicized (both in the late 1800s) that white wedding dresses became widely popular. In fact, even in the century during the Great Depression era, most wedding dresses were not white.

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