Oh, and because this is such a very special occasion, I’d like to share a little touch of  the joy I feel by offering one visitor today a choice of any of my books, currrent or back list.

Proud parents with bride. (As you can tell from my flushed face it was a HOT July afternoon)

 

Bride and bridesmaids - who just happen to be my other two lovely daughters

The bride and flower girl

The bride and groom (my handsome new son-in-law) cutting the cake

My husband and our two younger daughters

My son and his girlfriend

Me and my beautiful daughter near the end of the reception

Last month I went with a friend to the Texas Tech Museum in Lubbock. The newspaper had advertised that they were displaying their extensive collection of old wedding dresses and I couldn’t wait to see them. They certainly didn’t disappoint. I learned that the museum keeps a ton of things in their basement and take pride in bringing them up to display for the public periodically.

Since they have so many wedding dresses, they only bring up a certain amount at a time.  Starting in August these on display now will go back to the basement and a whole new group will come up.  I think they said they have enough to last until June of 2012. Just think how many dresses comprise their collection. The ones I’m showing today were just a few of what my friend and I saw.

The first two were surprisingly made of plaid material. I’d never heard of plaid being used for wedding dresses so I was amazed. For those who don’t know……white wasn’t worn until Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. Prior to that, the dresses had to be functional since they were worn many many times after the wedding.

This one looks like it could’ve been worn by a prairie lady.

The dresses were in all colors. Here’s a bright red one that might’ve been worn in a winter wedding.

This one was Civil War era. Just imagine having to sew all these buttons on!

These last two that I’ll show you today came later toward the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th century. Notice that the last one is looking more like the wedding dress we know today.

Over time, some of these dresses became quite worn so the museum experts had to do some extensive renovation. They had a video showing the process of placing another piece of fabric underneath the worn place and carefully stitching it to the dress. I really enjoyed seeing what all goes on behind the scenes.

Dresses in this display were fashioned from fabrics of brocade, velvet, cotton, satin, and silk. The brocade ones looked very heavy and reminded us of the dress Scarlet O’Hara made from her deep emerald drapes.

Can you imagine getting married in dresses like these?

My husband and I had a whirlwind courtship back in 1980.  We’d been acquaintances in high school and later became friends. He rode up to my house on a big red motorcycle one evening, suggested a movie and off we went to see the first Star Trek movie.  Four months later we got married in a very small ceremony in my parents’ living room. I wasn’t the girl who always dreamed of a big wedding.  In fact, Mike and I planned to elope until my dad said, “I think your mother would like to see you get married.” 

Well, my mom said, “You’re getting married here? I thought you were eloping?” She liked the idea of eloping  just fine. It was my dad who wanted to see the big moment and he did.  Short and sweet. Family. A wedding breakfast, where I found out my husband of 45 minutes didn’t like quiche.  Thirty-one years later, we’re going strong and he hasn’t had quiche since.

My parents’ wedding in 1954 was much more traditional My mom wore a beautiful white dress with a sweetheart neckline, lots of lace and a veil. Her bridesmaids wore shades of aqua, ballerina length dresses and cute little hats. The best picture, I think, is “the kiss.”  No wonder my folks were together for 42 years!  A lot of love was there from the beginning. So was faith and a willingness to talk, talk, talk things through.

My mom’s wedding dress got worn again in 1993. When my brother and future sister-in-law got engaged, she had trouble finding just the right dress.  My mom’s gown fit her perfectly. Not only did she wear the dress, she and John got married on my parent’s 39^th wedding anniversary. My oldest son was the ring bearer. He looked great in a tux! He looked even better on his own wedding day,which leads us to . . .

The most recent wedding is my oldest son and his wife.  Awesome day!  They got married at Woodlawn Plantation in Alexandria, Virginia.  String quartet. Delicious food. Lovely flowers. Gorgeous pictures. Best of all, family got to celebrate with them.

So those are my wedding memories. What are yours?  Of maybe you have a favorite wedding scene in a book?  I’d love to hear about them.

I’ll be in and out today . . . The wedding ramp-up is starting.  Can’t wait for Saturday!  P.S.  Sorry not to have family pictures . . . I don’t have the older ones on the computer, and the newer ones are on the old computer which isn’t here today.  They were on this computer until I had a virus a few months ago.  They’re safe, just not easily accessible.

Also, because I believe there should ALWAYS be gifts to mark special milestones, I’m going to give three of today’s commenters their choice of any one of my backlist books.  So, on to the main post!

PICKING THE WEDDING DATE.

The most popular month for a wedding is still June.  But did you know how the practice originated?  There are several schools of thought on this. 
One line of thought – It is said that during the fifteenth century, May was the month set aside by the general population for the ‘annual bath’, which meant as a whole folks were still smelling relatively ‘fresh’ during June so it was a good time to hold a communal event.
Another theory is that the month of June was named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of hearth and home, so getting married then was considered to bring her blessings.

Of course not all couples chose June.  One of the things I discovered when I was doing my research for this post was a little poem that predicted how the marriage would go based on the month you marry.   It goes like this:

Married when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind and true;
When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate;
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know;
Marry in April when you can, joy for Maiden and for Man;
Marry in the month of May, and you’ll surely rue the day;
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you will go;
Those who in July do wed, must labor for their daily bred;
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see;
Marry in September’s shrine, your living will be rich and fine;
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry;
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember;
When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.

As a November bride, this was right on point for me.

THE WEDDING GOWN

The color of choice for the modern bride is, of course, white.  But this wasn’t always true.  In medieval times, wearing brightly colored wedding garments symbolized happiness.  Rich colors and expensive fabrics also said something about the brides status and finances.  White didn’t gain the prominence it holds today until 1840.  That’s the year when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert.  Deciding to ignore the royal tradition of wearing a silver gown, the young queen instead chose to wear white and thus set a precedent that stands to this day.

Interesting bit of trivia – white was not always considered the color of purity.  At one point in history, it was thought blue symbolized that virtue – possibly through association with the garments of the Virgin Mary.  White was thought instead to symbolize joy.

I stumbled across an old poem that predicts how a woman’s marriage will go based on the color of her wedding gown (there seems to be a rhyme for everything).  It goes like this:

Married in white, you will have chosen all right.
Married in grey , you will go far away.
Married in black, you will wish yourself back.
Married in red, you’ll wish yourself dead.
Married in blue, you will always be true.
Married in pearl, you’ll live in a whirl.
Married in green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in yellow, ashamed of the fellow.
Married in brown, you’ll live out of town.
Married in pink, your spirits will sink.

THE WEDDING CAKE

I was surprised to discover that the wedding cake has been around for centuries.  In ancient times, the Romans baked a cake of barley or wheat and broke it over the head of the bride as a symbol of her fertility.  During the middle ages there was a popular custom which involved the guests bringing sticky buns to the reception and stacking them in front of the bride and groom.  If the happy couple was able to kiss over the top of it without toppling it, it signified they would enjoy a long and happy marriage and be blessed with many children. Toward the end of the sixteenth century the bride’s cake or pie came into vogue.  These were mostly mince pies in which a glass ring had been inserted.  It was believed that the person who received the piece that contained the ring would enjoy a full year of uninterrupted happiness.  The origins of our current tiered wedding cake came in the seventeenth century when French bakers stacked buns and covered them with frosting.

The traditional cake cutting also has a bit of symbolism associated with it.  Symbolically it is the first task the bride and groom shares as a married couple.  Afterward, the bride and groom feed each other from that first slice as a symbol of their mutual commitment to provide for one another.

So, enough of the history and general traditions.  Do you have any special wedding traditions handed down in your own families?  Any special memories of your own weddings? 

And remember, three people who comment on this post will be selected to receive a copy of one of my backlist books.

I’ve blogged before about the various settlers in Texas: the Anglos, the Native tribes and the Tejanos, Texans of Mexican or Spanish descent. Today I want to share a scene from my book Her Abundant Joy, which will be released early in 2010.

  Excerpt

“The women led Sugar (the bride) out of the house toward the white canopy where the ceremony would be held. Mariel hung back toward the rear of the procession. The priest from a nearby mission church had come and would give his blessing to the couple in this unorthodox open-air ceremony. Since there were still few Anglo churches in Texas, the families felt fortunate to have a man of God present.

To Mariel’s surprise, the two fathers would actually be the ones performing the wedding. Mrs. Quinn had said that this sort of “family” wedding was common on the frontier. Often so far from any town or any church, a wedding consisted of a man and woman declaring that they were husband and wife and writing of their union in a family Bible.

Such a contrast to the formality of marriages and church records in Germany. …

Everyone waited under the canopy, leaving an aisle open for the bride’s procession. Leading it was Erin as flower girl and young Carlos Falconer as the page at her side. Then came the damas or bridesmaids and the chamblanes or other groomsmen all in their wedding finery. At the front of the canopy waited a beaming Emilio with Scully Falconer as padrino and Carson as best man—both in black suits–at his side. …

Finally Sugar on her father’s arm reached Emilio (the groom) who wore a more Spanish-looking suit of brown. The madrino put something in Emilio’s hand that clinked.

In the back of the gathering standing beside Mariel was the man called Ash with his wife Reva who were as close as family to the Quinns.

Ash leaned close to Mariel and murmured, “Emilio will give Sugar those thirteen gold reals later in the ceremony. The coins symbolize that he is trusting her with all his worldly goods.” Mariel nodded and smiled.

The priest began speaking in Latin, often making the sign of the cross and obviously praying for the couple. Then he stepped away, joining the wedding guests. The madrina placed one chain of flowers around both the bride’s and the groom’s necks.

Ash leaned over again. “This is el lazo, which symbolizes the love that has joined these two. They will wear it throughout the ceremony and then Sugar will wear it the rest of the day.”

…Mr. Quinn read out the marriage vows from a small black Book of Common Prayer and the bride and groom exchanged rings. Then Mr. Quinn said, “Emilio, you may kiss your bride.”

Spontaneous applause broke out. Mariel thought it very strange. No one had applauded at her wedding, least of all her. This seemed appropriate here. She joined in. Then after the formal kiss, she watched Emilio give Sugar the thirteen gold coins which Sugar placed in a box that she handed to her brother. Then the newly married couple turned to face the guests.

Mr. Quinn said, “These two have become one for life. Please greet Mr. and Mrs. Emilio Ramirez.” He repeated this in Spanish and there were shouts of joy and more applauding.

 Well, I hope that this gives you some idea of a Tejano wedding in 1846. I found the symbolism—el lazo, the 13 golden coins–especially touching. I have added an image of the traditional wedding cookies that would have been also served. What caught your interest?