Why is rice/confetti thrown at weddings?
930546
i think it signified there first meal in the old days, wealth and prosperity ????
368308
That it's illegal to throw shoes at newlyweds! :P honestly, what is the need for that law?
238450
Outside weddings. Me and my wife got married beside a river on some property my parents own. It was great and it was free, except for the Pastor. Plus then if you have people you don't want to invite but feel it is necessary to invite them, maybe they won't come because it is outside and they won't want to have to sit out in the sun. Worked on my grandma, she's crazy.
269709
It's like a regular american wedding, the bride wears white and the groom a tux, after the ceremony everybody goes to the reception and dance and have a good time. I remember when my brother got married they stuck dollar bills to the brides dress while they danced the vals.
215700
Tradition.\n\nThe wedding cake as we know it today, with its successively smaller layers, its supporting glass or plastic pillars, fancy hand piped frosting, all came about in 1859, with a confection that commemorated the marriage of one of Queen Victoria's daughters. As is the case with today’s brides, the celebrities of the time moved the public to emulate their fashions, starting with the wealthiest Victorian families first.\n\nFor a white icing, only the most expensive, pure refined sugars could be used; so the whiter the cake, the wealthier the bride’s family must be (as most sugar at the time was browner than today’s refined type). A pure white wedding cake also complemented the bride as the focal point of the wedding, since she too was wearing white as her own symbol of purity.
918653
In Guam, marriage is only legal if the man is a virgin and the woman is not.  So there's a man employed for the purpose of deflowering all the virgins before their wedding day.  For some reason, no-one lasts in the job for very long, although there's a long waiting list.
140460
Many of the Eastern European customs that follow the wedding ceremony are meant to deliver the couple to their new home and to help them establish a domestic partnership. Here are just a few of the colorful traditions.\n\nTHE FIRST STEP\nIn Romanian villages, the women watch the newlyweds as they emerge from the church; if the bride steps out first, she will rule the household. This hearkens back to a time when the couple would have been presented with a circular loaf of bread with a hole in the middle. The couple would look up at the sky through the hole and then break it in half. Like a domestic wishbone, whoever got the larger piece would be dominant in the home.\n\nPASSING THE TORCH\nYugoslavian Krusevacs journey to the house of the groom's parents after the ceremony. There, in front of all the guests, the bride must sit on her mother-in-law's lap while a young man from the groom's party sprinkles water from a pitcher onto the floor. This signifies the transfer of the mother's role as the groom's caregiver to his new wife. For his part in the service, the young man is given a pair of socks by the bride -- what a lucky guy.\n\nBABY FEVER\nLatvian grooms observe the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold -- only with an added twist. A plate is placed on the threshold, upside down and covered with a linen towel. As the groom carries the bride over, he steps on the plate, breaking it. Legend has it that the number of pieces it breaks into determines how many children they will have. This is usually an occasion to tease the newlyweds, since the plate shatters into dozens of pieces. Later, the bride might be presented with a small tub of warm water and a naked doll with mustard smeared on its behind so that she may prove that she will be able to bathe her children.\n\nIN ITALY ...\n\nWhen: In Italy, wedding festivities usually kick off in the morning, ideally on a Sunday. According to regional Italian folklore, you should never marry (or leave for your honeymoon) on a Friday or Tuesday, or you’re bound to have loads of bad luck, while Saturdays are reserved for widows getting hitched to husband number two (or three, or four ...).\nAttire: Don’t bother with makeup since in addition to a white gown, you’ll wear a veil -- a symbol of virginity (don’t worry, it’s just for show). Tearing the veil, however, is considered good luck (Why? Just use your imagination). Meanwhile, the groom can lug a piece of iron (preferably a small one) in his pocket to ward off evil spirits.\nActivities: Traditional Italian brides and grooms forgo the limo and make it to the chapel on foot. In certain villages, residents throw symbolic obstacles in your path to suss out your future as man and wife: If a broom lands at your feet and you pick it up, for example, you’ll be one helluva housecleaner. After the wedding ceremony, the couple shatters a glass or vase -- and does their best to pulverize it, since the number of pieces represents the amount of years they’ll stay happily married. If someone hands you a double-handed saw, you and the groom must cut a log in half to prove you can work together without driving each other insane.\nThe Food: A roasted baby pig or lamb accompanied by wanda, bow ties of fried dough dipped in powdered sugar. Women sip Marsala wine, men guzzle the much stronger grappa (go ahead and guess who’s in store for a hangover). Confetti -- sugar-covered almonds (or Jordan almonds, as we know them) representing the bitter and sweet of life -- serves as snacks or, yes, projectiles thrown at the newlyweds as they make their exit.\nThe Music: Possibly a jaunty jig called the tarantella. Legend has it that a woman who was once bitten by a poisonous tarantula cured herself by shakin’ her booty better than Beyoncé on a very good day. The least it can do for you is to keep you from passing out due to too much Marsala.\nAdded Perk: Money -- lots of it. Forget toasters and towels: Guests place col
1154478
(m)\n\nwedding / wed \n\nA wedding is a marriage ceremony which is held in church or a registry office and also includes the party or special meal which follows the ceremony. All of this usually happens on your wedding day. \n\nThere are a number of other wedding compounds that are associated with wedding day: \n\nThe newlyweds had told everybody that they wanted no wedding presents as they were emigrating to Australia. \nThe predominant colour at Sophie's wedding was creamy white. Her wedding dress was this colour and the icing on the three-tier wedding cake was this colour too. \nIs it true that in Britain you wear your wedding ring on the third finger of your left hand? \nA silver wedding is celebrated after 25 years of marriage and a golden wedding after 50 years. \n \n \n \n     \n If you wed someone, you marry them, but wed is not used very much nowadays as a verb as it is rather old-fashioned. It can sound quite effective however, because it is unusual. Sometimes it has a poetic ring to it: \n\nWe got wed soon after the baby was born. \nI shall never wed as I like to be independent. \n \n      marriage / marry / get married \n\nMarriage describes the relationship between husband and wife or the state of being married: \n\nThey enjoyed a long and happy marriage. \nMost marriages these days do not last. \nThe bride's parents did not approve of Victoria's marriage to George. \n \n \n      If you marry someone, that person becomes your husband or wife and we use the verb marry in preference to wed normally.\n\nHowever, even more usual than marry is get married. This use of get with a past participle is a very common structure in contemporary English and is used across a range of common expressions. It has the same sort of force as reflexive verbs have in other languages. Thus in English we would say: Don't get lost! NOT Don't lose yourselves! Consider the following:\n\nI married the man next door / I got married to the man next door. \nThey didn't get dressed until two o'clock in the afternoon. \nI didn't bother to get washed as I knew I would be working on the farm. \nRemember, it's a big dark wood. Be careful not to get lost. \nWe had known each other for fifteen years before we got engaged. \nI never get invited to Sarah's parties. \nWe got married on 10 June, but by the beginning of the autumn both of us knew that the marriage would not last and that sooner or later we would have to get a divorce / get divorced. \n \n      Interestingly, although we can say they married and they divorced as an alternative to they got married and they got divorced, we cannot say: they engaged. Here, only they got engaged is possible.
868182
if it's something they can use before the wedding then before. if you are giving a toaster or set of glasses or a 'general' gift then after would probably be best.
623417
The purpose of a  formal ceremony is to make a contract with each other before a legal representative of the government and God. \nWithout a formal ceremony you are not married. That's the way it works. You can deny it an try to do it your own way. But God will not recognize it.
1062212
I heard about this one ages ago but was never able to confirm it. Supposedly, back in medieval days, the ring bearer rang a bell before the bride came down the aisle in an effort to ward off evil spirits. Apparently, back then, the ring bearer did not actually carry the ring, another wedding party member did. It was the ring bearer's only duty to ring the bell.
595868
In extreme bad taste unless you just want to jack up the "Opera Bores". I love fine wine and the Opera but both sects ahcve their "bores". Fun to mess with em' on occasion. One time, I didn't swirl my wine and comment on the bouquet. Rather, I didn't like my date so I asked the waited if I could have some Sweet n' Low for my wine.
988426
This practice is actually really common in the Hispanic culture. Family and friends called Mardias and Pardinos (my spanish sucks)  will help  pay for items that the couple needs. Example: My cousin will be married in July of this year. She and her groom-to-be have asked my father to pay for the DJ, my grandparents were asked to help pay for the cake. In return for the generosity the names of the sponsors are placed on the programs and they are given special treatment at the reception. It is an honor to be asked to help with the wedding expenses. However this is the first I have ever heard of having a person you have never met help pay for stuff.
1151512
red may not be best.  many times an asian bride will wed in red.
843333
In English ways or how it was when i first got married, was the father of the bride paid for the wedding. The father of the bride paid for nothing other what he wanted for his own family, i understand these days it is done differently as most Bride and grooms earn more money then there fathers do.In india it is different, i believe the bride's family pays for not only the wedding it's self but also all the gold that is wore on the day, you can now see why it once bad luck to have a girl in the family, image the large familys they have.
688434
No, it's an urban myth.\n\nWe're cautioned not to throw rice at the bride and groom, because the grain will prove harmful to the birds who swoop down to eat it. The rice expands in those little birdy stomachs, causing our avian companions to explode, we're warned. Let's quit worrying about the birds. They'll be fine. Seagulls don't explode when they eat Alka-Seltzer; pigeons don't explode when they eat rice.\n\nThink about it for a second. Seagulls feed their young by regurgitating food from their stomach. How could an animal that can regurtitate entire fish be harmed by gas from baking soda?
331004
I like the exchange collars idea.  Serve alcohol to the wedding guests.  Have someone creative make a ferret shaped cake to serve at the reception.