Nowadays, the bride chooses to walk the path to the groom accompanied by her father and her bridesmaids, as a way to honor them. But it wasn’t always like this.
Although we don’t know the exact historical moment in which the father came to accompany the bride while she walks to the future husband, if we take into account that past societies were quite patriarchal, it is natural to deduce that the man was responsible for handing the daughter over to the groom. In Ancient Rome, for example, one of the official modes of marriage was the “in manu”. With her, the woman was passed from the authority of her father to her husband. Catherine Salles, a member of the editorial board of the Historia Viva and a student of Roman culture, says that the wife became, so to speak, the husband’s daughter.
But the tradition is not limited to the fact that the bride must enter with her father, since she is also present in the position in which both walk towards the altar: bride on the left and father on the right. According to Cláudia Matarazzo, in the book “Case and Arrase: Um guia para organizar seu grande dia”, there is a reason for the definition of the sides. “This originated among the Anglo-Saxons. Fearing an attack and other threats to the bride, the right arm was always free to pick up the sword. “Danielle Andrews Sunkel, co-founder of The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada (WPIC) gives more details about this custom. According to her, in the face of the high-value gifts that parents used to offer to the family of the future son-in-law, brides were often targeted by kidnappers who, in many cases, acted when they were on their way to marriage or already inside the church itself. “Once captured, she was forced to marry her abductor and consummate marriage. The father would then have to hand over the dowry to the kidnapper, “Sunkel explains. For this reason, men always stood to the right of the bride. In this way, they could pick up the sheathed sword at the height of their hips without hurting the woman.
And if on one hand the groom asked loyal friends to be his groomsmen and protect his future wife, on the other the bride did not come without an escort: the most curious, still according to Sunkel, is to be one of the maids of honor, or bridesmaid at that time was definitely not an honor. This is because they should dress exactly like the bride in order to confuse any potential raptor! Today we no longer have more kidnappings motivated by dowry nor men who take to the streets with swords in the scabbard, but the tradition of the father entering with the bride in her right side happen till this day. More than that, currently couples have opted for different compositions. As a way of honoring not only the father of the bride, but also the mother, many have come accompanied by the two. There are still brides who choose to enter alone or with their brother. Every family has its unique beauty and the most important thing is to find the way that is most meaningful to you!
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