Debbie Lynne Costello has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina. She has worked in many capacities in her church and is currently the Children’s director. Debbie Lynne has shown and raised Shetland sheepdogs for eighteen years and still enjoys litters now and then. In their spare time she and her husband enjoy camping and riding their Arabian and Tennessee Walking horses.
Visit Debbie Lynne at www.debbielynnecostello.com, www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com, https://www.facebook.com/debbielynnecostello , https://plus.google.com/+DebbieLynneCostello/posts, and https://twitter.com/DebiLynCostello
Debbie is giving away a choice of one of her books Shattered Memories or Sword of Forgiveness—paperback or ebook. Read on down to find out how to enter.
Wedding Facts
by Debbie Lynn Costello
There is nothing better than a good read that ends in a wedding and a happily ever after. I love to end my stories with a marriage and the dreams of a bright future. I thought I’d share with you some interesting wedding facts.
Tis the sea
son for weddings! I think the history nut in me is always looking for that historical tidbit. So with the marriage of my son and lovely daughter-in-law and the marriage of my beautiful niece (pictures of both weddings below) it got me thinking…Where did all these traditions come from anyway? As I researched I discovered that not everyone agrees on where some of these traditions come from. So I may never know all of them, but I wanted to share with you the ones I did discover.
The wedding ring…something every young girl dreams of wearing someday and something every young man wants to make sure he has the perfect one for his wife-to-be. Although I did see mention of prehistoric times, the ancient Romans seemed to be the first to use the wedding ring. Reeds, leather, ivory, iron, and gold were some of the early materials used. Gold became popular in medieval times and was sometimes fashioned with gems. Ruby and sapphire were both popular, but diamond was the favorite. They placed the ring on the same finger we place it on today, the ‘ring finger’ on the left hand because they believed the heart was on the left side. They also believed that the third finger held the ‘Vena Amoris or the ‘Vein of Love’ which went directly to the heart. Okay all you romantics say ‘awe’.
The bridal bouquet. It seems we can’t get married without one these days even if it is just wildflowers. I know when I was a little girl and we pretended to be brides, we may not have had a wedding dress, or a ring, or even a groom, but we always had a bouquet! The bouquets in ancient times were filled with herbs and spices. These were believed to be strong smelling and would ward off evil spirits and would protect from illness and bad luck.
Which brings us to the throwing of the bridal bouquet. The bride was considered lucky on her wedding day and because of that everyone wanted a piece of her luck. If a person could get a fragment of the bride’s dress they would obtain some of that good fortune. The brides dress would end in tatters. The bride began throwing her bouquet for the crowd as she made her escape.
Have you ever wondered where the tradition of giving the bride away came from? Think arranged marriages. Daughters were considered the property of their father. When a young woman married, her father actually ‘gave’ her to the man marrying her and from that moment on she became the property of her husband. Hey ladies, we’ve come a long way baby!
My niece asked me to find out about the tradition of keeping the small cake that sits on top of the wedding cake and the couple eats on their anniversary. But in the process I discovered that the wedding cake came out of medieval times. The cakes were stacked as high as possible and if the bride and groom could still kiss over them they would have a prosperous life. In the 17th century in England they baked a glass ring into the bride pie and who ever found the ring would be the next to marry. It was also considered rude not to eat a piece of the bride pie. The tradition of the bridal pie and glass ring have disappeared but I thought it an interesting tidbit you’d enjoy. There are many different traditions for the bridal cake, depending on country and time period. So I will stop here, but not before saying I didn’t find where the saving of the top cake for the first anniversary came from. But it did occur to me that it couldn’t be a tradition terribly old since the cake has to be frozen in order to preserve it.
Superstition brings on many a tradition. Bridesmaids came about to fool evil spirits. Centuries ago the bride’s friends would dress like the bride to confuse malicious spirits that might be prowling around. So I was wondering what if there was an identical twin dressed as her bride-to-be sister…couldn’t she have fun? ;o)
Throwing of rice came about in ancient times. People brought rice or grain to shower on the newlyweds to wish them a fruitful and prosperous union. We don’t throw rice much these days because of people slipping and getting injured, and I understand that even birdseed has been banned from some wedding places! Poor birds! Today flower petals, herbs, biodegradable confetti, and reusable pom poms are given to guests to throw. I’m trying to figure out what these things might represent. Anyone want to take a stab at it?
I can’t end this post without the one little rhyme we all know which tells the bride what she needs to have for her wedding day.
Something old,
Something new,
Something borrowed,
Something blue,
And a sixpence in your shoe.
This rhyming tradition comes from the later half of the 19th century. The something old is the bride’s connection to past friends and family. The something new represents optimism for the future. Something borrowed is for happiness for the bride. The idea is that she would borrow happiness from a happily wedded woman. Something blue is a symbol of love, fidelity, and purity. The sixpence is a wish for prosperity and good fortune.
Giveaway: To enter to win a choice of one of my books leave a comment telling us what is your favorite part of a wedding or share with us another wedding tradition that you know and where it came from. Don’t forget to leave your email address. The drawing will be held next Thursday and announced in a comment on this post.
Shattered Memories
The Charleston earthquake has left destruction like nothing Doctor Andrew Warwick has ever seen. On a desperate mission to find the lady who owns his heart, he frantically searches through the rubble, where he finds her injured and lifeless. After she regains consciousness, the doctor’s hopes are quickly dashed as he realizes she doesn’t remember him. Things only get worse when he discovers she believes she’s still engaged to the abusive scoundrel, Lloyd Pratt. Now Drew is on a race with the wedding clock to either help her remember or win her heart again before she marries the wrong man.
Waking in a makeshift hospital, Olivia Macqueen finds herself recovering from a head injury. With amnesia stealing a year of her memories, she has trouble discerning between lies and truth. When her memories start returning in bits and pieces, she must keep up the charade of amnesia until she can find out the truth behind the embezzlement of her family’s business while evading the danger lurking around her.
Sword of Forgiveness
When her father died, she had promised herself no man would own her again, yet who could defy an edict of the king? After the death of her cruel father, Brithwin is determined never again to live under the harsh rule of any man. Independent and resourceful, she longs to be left alone to manage her father’s estate. But she soon discovers a woman has few choices when the king decrees she is to marry Royce, the Lord of Rosencraig. As if the unwelcome marriage isn’t enough, her new husband accuses her of murdering his family, and she is faced with a challenge of either proving her innocence or facing possible execution. Royce Warwick returns home after setting down a rebellion to find his family brutally murdered. When all fingers point to his betrothed and attempts are made on his life, Royce must wade through murky waters to uncover the truth. Yet Brithwin’s wise and kind nature begin to break down the walls of his heart, and he soon finds himself in a race to discover who is behind the evil plot before Brithwin is the next victim.
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