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Show Wedding Customs That Are Old as History In ancient northern Europe married pairs drank mead, a high-power wine made from fermented honey, for 30 days after the marriage ceremony. This came to be known as the "honey month." That is the origin of the word "honeymoon." The bridegroom got ins name from the custom of his having to wait at the table of his bride taking the place of the regular servant, a groom. That famed institution, the big wedding wed-ding cake, had a very practical origin. A French cook observed the custom of serving individual little cakes to the hundreds at a wedding would be more convenient if the others were concentrated concen-trated into one mass. The marriage ceremony In ancient days was often fantastic. There are primitive districts of the world that still preserve the system by which a man and woman were considered married mar-ried as soon as they ate out of the same dish. Rice is thrown after the departing married pair because of its being the olden symbol of productiveness. productive-ness. Six hundred years ago in France, the writer records "it was considered a lucky thing to win the bride's garter, and every one rushed for it at the conclusion con-clusion of the ceremony." Lillian Eichler, in "The Customs of Mankind." |