[bobthecockroach]

I've only been to one wedding in my life, and it was a rather small wedding. I read people talking about weddings and have no clue what they're talking about. I hear about traditions (freezing the top layer of your cake so you can eat it on your first anniversary) and have no clue what's being talked about. I read something about a "maitron of honor" and I have no clue what that means.

I am nowhere near getting married, but purely for the sake of curiosity, please explain everything you can about weddings and wedding traditions. I mean EVERYTHING. From "will you marry me" to leaving for the honeymoon.

[danalyn]

well, firstly, let me say I'm glad you don't want us to explain the honeymoon.

ummm... "matron of honour" is simply a maid of honour who's already married. The role of maid of honour is a little tougher to explain. That ranges from everything to planning the bachelorette party (or whatever you have), to helping ensure the bride doesn't go bonkers, to helping the bride get dressed/go to the bathroom/you-name-it on the wedding day...

there are a lot of wedding traditions... and unless someone beats me to it, I'm going to do a little research as to the "why" at some point tonight. You mentioned the cake (which we didn't do... then again, we didn't have the typical layer cake, either), to the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" that the bride is supposed to wear for good luck...

[danalyn]

this was listed as "traditions for the groom"
THE WEDDING RING
Wedding rings are circular because circles represent eternity: They have no end and no beginning. So the round wedding ring symbolizes eternal love.
GROOMSMEN
Why do you need groomsmen? After all, you could hold the ring yourself. But in ancient times, most marriages were accomplished when the groom literally captured the bride and fended off her family in the process. If her family was extra angry, he probably needed buddies to help him out.
WHICH SIDE OF THE ALTAR?
At the altar, the groom traditionally stands on the bride's right side. In olden days, Mr. Groom would have held Mrs. Bride with his left hand and wielded a sword with his right.
CARRYING YOUR BRIDE OVER THE THRESHOLD
You know you're expected to carry your bride over the threshold into your new home. The reason why? In Roman times, it was considered bad luck if the bride stumbled when entering her new home for the first time.
DECORATING THE GETAWAY CAR
Wondering why best men have traditionally insisted on tying tin cans to the back of the newlyweds' getaway car? The custom is thought to bring good luck: The noise frightens away evil spirits.

here is the explanation I found for the "something old something new..."
Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity, although this remains largely a British custom.

and... the cake...
LET THEM EAT CAKE
Traditionally many wheat cakes were broken over the bride's head to bring good luck and fertility. During the reign of King Charles II of England, a baker stacked these cakes and frosted them, creating the tiered wedding cake popular today. Folklore proclaims that the top tier represents the couple -- and will be preserved in the freezer for the couple to share on their first anniversary. The bride and groom are to kiss over their tall cake for luck and then cut the first piece together. Somewhere along the way, the bride and groom decided to feed cake to each other as a symbol of how they would always trust and provide for each other, and feed and nourish their relationship. At some weddings, this "feeding" turns into smashing the cake in each other's face, and we can only hope that the future of this practice may dissolve just as mysteriously as it developed.

[sparklystuff]

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

I am nowhere near getting married, but purely for the sake of curiosity, please explain everything you can about weddings and wedding traditions. I mean EVERYTHING. From "will you marry me" to leaving for the honeymoon.

The ceremony itself can be as personalized as you desire. A wedding ceremony can really be out 5 minutes if you want it to, but it doesn't have to be. Something really fun to do, is go through books and pick out readings, have lots of people speak, sing, play music, personalized vows, etc. There is no set way to have a wedding ceremony...you do kind of need the essentials, the vows, (I wills) the rings...the kiss. But, when it's your own wedding, you're going to want that special day last forever. Make your ceremony memorable.

[nix]

Here are some more traditions explained.