Wedding Blog Hop

We're going on a Blog Hop, We're going to have some fun, It's a beautiful day...........etc (apologies to Michael Rosen)  It's all about WEDDINGS!

If you haven't got a cuppa by now, perhaps you should go and get one - lots to read and see!

If you came here from Tania's amazing creation and have completed the rest of the hop for the wonderful team at  Crafting with Dragonflies, you are in the right place! If you have come here because you are a follower of mine or you just lucked in, and you want to do the hop, just turn right around and go back to Crafting with Dragonflies and begin the Hop. It is well worth the effort because there are some fabulous prizes available, one on each of the seven team blogs and one on the main blog. 

Our theme is WEDDINGS and we have a little game running. It's a guessing game and involves a small rhyme about weddings that you will have heard of or already know.  You will get a clue for each word on the team's individual blogs - one blog , one word - and when put together they make up the rhyme.

My card for this challenge is a WEDDING card (surprise) and the image I have used on this is a Kenny K image called Wedding Garter. This image is a digi and KK have given this to us to give away, so some lovely person who leaves me some love on this blog by making a comment will get the image sent to them. How good is that!

  (Remember you need to be a follower of Crafting with Dragonflies to be eligible for prizes - and if you want to, you can be a follower of my blog as well but it is not contingent on winning).

I guess you have heard a lot about weddings on your hop so far - all those traditions and their possible origins. My little lady here is wearing a garter, and it has blue on it. This is supposed to be one of the oldest traditions of the lot, and comes from the superstition that a piece of the clothing worn by the bride would bring good luck to someone.  So, one tale is that people tended to pile into the bedchamber of the new couple and try to rip off the said garment in an attempt to get a piece of luck and happiness - nice!

In the 14th Century the wedding couple were accompanied to the bridal chamber, escorted in, undressed and as part of the deal, consummation was watched for and checked (especially if the girl was a virgin) by some of the guests - lovely! 

Another explanation for the toss of the garter is that wedding guests (men) would during this time play a game of tossing the stockings of the bride as they were removed.  The man who threw the stocking closest to the nose of the groom was the next to marry apparently! Later on, it developed that throwing them the smaller garter to fight over alleviated the bride (and groom) being left bruised and/or embarrassed and probably also explains why in some places it is the groom who removes it first! Protector of the innocent bride, he will throw this toward the eligible men to distract them while his new bride would throw her bouquet at the eligible women for the same reason. Possibly this would also allow them to slam the door of the bridal chamber while the crowd was distracted! It all sounds a bit barbaric to me! 

Silver was used as currency in the past, and a silver coin is a sign of wealth (luck) - if the bride was given some silver it was indeed very lucky for her if she was poor! Some women now have a silver coin - usually a sixpence - either in a purse in their dress, or sewn into the lining or worn around the neck or in the bouquet or in their shoe! Sometimes the groom gets to have the coin in the shoe instead - lucky man. I think this little girl has the silver sixpence in her garter!

My own wedding was a little out of the norm - it was in a church, but the reception was just a party at home for two hours, and there was definitely no garter throwing! I did have a bouquet - a small spray of Singaporean orchids - but I didn't have the frou-frou wedding dress.  I had a nice silk shift in a beautiful pale coffee colour.  I cannot believe how slim I was or how dark!  I am certain all the old biddies in the area were counting on their fingers to see if a small packet was delivered six or seven months later but I liked the dress, it suited me and while it didn't cost sixpence it was cheap! Our whole wedding was catered for by ourselves and my Mum made the cake. I got it decorated very plainly with just white icing and we laid a spray of orchids across it. We had two witnesses (friends who signed the certificate) and went to dinner with family later before sailing off for a two week honeymoon on our small yacht - such bliss! Oh well, each to their own. 

Now, your turn!

Somewhere in my blog is a word to add to the rhyme. Add it to the others.

Go to the comments section and leave some love - you might win the KK image!

When you have done that return to Crafting with Dragonflies

blog and leave a comment there as well.  

Did you work out the rhyme? Good - email me with it, putting WEDDING BLOG HOP in the subject line. My email address is on the main blog.  Please DO NOT put the rhyme in the comments section. 

Oh, and well done if you got this far!