My lovely wedding party! They have been so wonderful helping us with wedding.Did you ever wonder where the bridesmaid & groomsmen traditions came from?
This tradition dates back to ancient Roman times. Several women were asked to dress similar to the bride in order to confuse any evil spirits that may attempt to kidnap the bride. Nowadays, the bridesmaids may dress differently from the bride, but they wear similar dresses to each other for good luck.
It is believed that the tradition of having a best man comes from Germanic Goths in about 200BC. At this time we are lead to believe there was a shortage of women and so, to claim a bride for yourself, it might come to the point of stealing one you fancy.
This is where the best man, we would assume the groom's best friend or brother, came in. The groom's best man would provide assistance to the groom in the stealing of the bride and be there during the ceremony to fight of her family and friends if they objected. In Anglo-Saxon England the best man would be at the grooms side to provide protection form anyone trying to interfere with the wedding. This leads to the other tradition of the woman standing to the left of the man, so the presumed right handed groom and best man could keep their hand on their sword, just in case!
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