40 Interesting wedding facts….

1. In the United States, there is no law or religious dictate that says the bride must take the groom’s last name. However, approximately 70% of Americans agree that the bride should change her last name. 
2. In the States, where no blood tests or physical exams are required, failing to tell your prospective spouse that you have a venereal disease or a physical impairment (such as impotence or infertility) can void the marriage.
3. Early Roman brides carried a bunch of herbs, such as garlic and rosemary, under their veils to symbolize fidelity and fertility and to ward off evil. These herbs served as a precursor to the modern bridal bouquet.
4. The phrase, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe." Symbolizes: continuity, optimism for the future, borrowed happiness, fidelity, and wealth or good luck, respectively.
5. Because white is the color of mourning in Eastern cultures, white wedding dresses are uncommon
6. Las Vagas is the top wedding destination with over 100,000 weddings a year, followed by Hawaii at 25,000 weddings a year.
7. Wedding rings are often placed on the third finger of the left hand because ancient Egyptians believed the vein in that hand (which Romans called the "vein of love") ran directly to the heart.
8. The bride's veil traditionally symbolized her youth and virginity. Veils also hid the bride from jealous spirits or the Evil Eye. In the past, veils could be red, blue or yellow (the color of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage). The modern white veil became popular during the Victorian era as a symbol of purity and modesty. A white veil also connoted that a bride was wealthy enough to wear white.
9. Throwing rice at weddings symbolizes fertility, prosperity, and bounty. In some countries, the bride might even carry or wear sheaves of grain. However, many modern churches and wedding locations discourage rice throwing because rice can be fatal for birds who eat it.
10. Guests in ancient times would tear off the bride's gown as tokens of good luck, leading to the tradition of the bride throwing her garter and her bouquet.
11. A wedding cake is traditionally a symbol of good luck and fertility and has been a part of wedding celebrations since Roman times, when a small bun, symbolizing fertility, was broken above the bride's head at the close of the ceremony. During the Middle Ages, custom required the bride and groom to kiss over small cakes.
12. A bride is traditionally carried over the threshold either to symbolize her reluctance to leave her father's home or because evil spirits hovered over the threshold of a house - so she was lifted over the entrance to protect her from the spirits.
13. Pope Innocent III (1160-1216) declared that a waiting period should be observed between betrothal and marriage, which led to separate engagement and wedding rings. The first recorded account of a diamond engagement ring was in 1477 when King Maximilian I of Germany (1459-1519) proposed to Mary of Burgundy (1475-1482) and offered her a diamond to seal his vow.
14. During Biblical times, shoes were seen as a badge of authority because they lifted a person off the ground, differentiating them from barefoot slaves and serfs. They were used to seal a bargain and fathers would give his son-in-law a pair on the wedding day as a symbol of transferring authority.
15. In Great Britain, it was considered good luck for the bride to kiss a chimney sweep on her wedding day. He supposedly had special powers, and when he cleans the chimney, he also sweeps away evil spirits.
16. In many countries, a yellow wedding dress has traditionally been seen as a sign of a wife's intention to cheat on her husband or of jealousy.
17. Much like the modern tradition of feeding wedding cake to one's spouse, in ancient Rome, couples pledged their unity by sharing food. Today a Japanese bride and groom drink sake together, Jewish couples drink from the same cup of consecrated wine, and Muslim couples eat from the same piece of candy.
18. An average wedding in the United States has 175 guests.
19. After a Jewish wedding, the groom stomps on a glass which is wrapped in a cloth while people clap and shout congratulations ("Mazel tov!"). The broken glass symbolizes the frailty of human happiness or perhaps the destruction of the Israelite temple in A.D. 70. Some Jewish husbands argue that it means they will have the authority in the house or that shattered glass symbolizes the easing of sexual penetration on the first night of marriage.
20. In Jewish weddings, if the bride is the last marriageable daughter in her family, her mother is crowned with a wreath of leaves (a krenzel) and family and friends dance around her.
21. Green is typically not worn at Scottish weddings because it is the color of fairies and an omen of revenge. It is considered unlucky to even eat green vegetables at a wedding.
22. More than 40% of couples now plan their weddings together, and three out of four grooms help select items for their wedding gift registries.
23. Seventy-five percent of engaged couples in the United States pay for some or all of their own wedding.
24. The top 10 "First Dance" songs in the U.S. include "The Way You Look Tonight," "Just the Way You Are," "Come Away With Me," "Unforgettable," "Wonderful Tonight," "From This Moment On," "This I Promise You," "Thank You For Loving Me," "Don't Want To Miss A Thing," and "All I Ask Of You."
25. The superstition that the bridegroom must not see his bride before the wedding stems from the days when marriages were arranged and the groom might never have seen the bride. There was the chance that if he saw her, he might bolt. Other sources say that to see the bride in her dress is peering into the future, which can bring bad luck.
26. In America, T.V. soap opera weddings attract more viewers than a presidential address.
27. Wedding bells are an important symbol of a wedding. Traditionally, it was believe that demons were scared off by loud sounds, so following a wedding ceremony, anything that could make noise was used to create a diversion.
28. The bachelor or stag party supposedly started in the fifth-century Sparta where military compatriots would feast and toast one another on the eve of a wedding, like warriors going to battle.
29. In the United States, June is the most popular month for weddings, followed by August.
30. Nearly $72 billion is spent on weddings every year in the United States.
31. "Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride," dates to about the sixteenth century. It was believed that if a young maiden had been a bridesmaid three times was unable to catch the eye of unmarried males, then she never would. But, if she served seven times as a bridesmaid, the spell was broken and the woman was thought to be a sure bet for marriage.
32. Because eyebrows are considered intensely alluring in the Orient, historically the bride's eyebrows were shaved entirely, rendering her powerless to attract a man.
33. Traditionally, bridesmaids would be dressed in bride-like gowns to confuse rival suitors, evil spirits, and robbers.
34. At Italian weddings, it is not unusual for both the bride and groom to break the glass. The number of shards will be equal to the number of happy years the couple will have.
35. Washington D.C. has the lowest marriage rate in the nation.
36. A marriage ceremony typically ends with a kiss because in ancient Rome, a kiss was a legal bond that sealed contracts, and marriage was seen as a contract.
37. Birth order could influence whether a marriage succeeds or fails. The most successful marriages are those where the oldest sister of brothers marries the youngest brother of sisters. Two firstborns, however, tend to be more aggressive and can create higher levels of tension. The highest divorce rates are when an only child marries another only child.
38. An old wives; tail: if the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never landing a husband.
39. Using a knife decorated with ribbon, the bride cuts the first two slices, symbolizing the traditional role of wife as "food preparer." The bridegroom feeds the first bite to his wife, symbolizing the traditional male role of provider.
40. It is held that the final look in the mirror right before the bride leaves her home for the ceremony will bring good luck. However, if she looks in the mirror once again before the ceremony, her luck will tarnish to bad. It is also believed to be bad luck for hte bride to wear her complete outfit before the wedding day. As an extension to this, some brides leave a final stitch on the dress undone until the day of the wedding for good luck. But beware! It is considered unlucky for the bride to assist in sewing her dress.