History Of Wedding Customs?
Q: Anyone know a good resource that talks about the history of American/Western
traditional weddings? I'm getting the sense that much of what's "traditional"
today has become traditional fairly recently because the wedding industry has
actively worked to make it so. For instance, the diamond engagement ring --
DeBeers wanted to expand their market in the 30s and 40s, so they advertised
the idea that it wasn't a luxury but a necessity. (It appears to me that
they're attempting to do the same today with anniversary diamonds.) I'd be
interested to know what customs truly extend back through time, and what have
become standard recently.
A:I found this site a few days ago wondering the same things myself. These are
more of the supposed "original" traditions I think but I sure found them
interesting especially considering what the wedding industry would like us
to think!
http://www.foreverafter.com.au/traditions.htm
I vote yes. Wende is incredibly knowledgeable about this stuff and
not just in a "I read something in a book so I remember it" way, but
in a critical, multi-sourced and integrated kind of way.
Whenever you have the time and are in the mood, please feel free to write a
post as long as you like! I (and I'm sure many others) don't really have the
time to go out and do serious research, but would *love* to get past