A
continuation of last week…
Right
now we’ve got a bride, groom, bridesmaids and groomsmen. The job of the first
two in that list didn’t change over time (to get married, duh), while the jobs
of the latter two underwent personnel, title and job description changes. Caught
up? Okay, let’s keep going.
What,
exactly, did these bridesmaids and groomsmen do back then?
In
addition to dressing their respective member of the couple, bridesmaids and
groomsmen were charged with protecting them. Bbridesmaids’ involvement was
intended to foil the efforts of evil spirits. For this purpose, they wore
white. The idea was that, the more similarly-dressed people in a church, the
harder it was for evil spirits to identify the bride, attach to her and, in doing
so, ruin her and the groom’s marriage.
In
Britain, although centuries passed and no evil spirits succeeded in their…well,
evil…plans, the all-white color scheme continued. This, dear readers, is why
Pippa wore white.
In
America, however, the trend of all-white-clad bridesmaids changed as the
country’s social class structure developed. During Puritan times, only white,
black and grey-colored clothes were available due to 1) a lack of imports of
colored cloths, 2) a lack of imports of dyes and 3) Puritan ideology (colored
clothes = showy = pride, one of the seven deadly sins). Therefore, at its very
beginnings, bridesmaids wore white because every Puritan female owned a white
dress and because white symbolized purity, the reason why a bride wore white on
her wedding day. (If you really want to delve into wedding history, the reason
white represents purity in Christian countries is because Jesus was covered in
a white shroud after the crucifixion.)
As
the country and its economy grew, and as some inhabitants became wealthy, many Americans
became able to afford dyed fabrics. The appearance of colored bridesmaids’
dresses, therefore, was a symbol of the wealth of the bride’s attendants. The
ability to attire bridesmaids in different colors indicated the ability to
afford large amounts of clothing dye.
With
that, America came full circle in the meaning of bridesmaids’ involvement in
weddings.
The
history of groomsmen attire is a lot less intricate. Since forever, men from
the same vicinity, town or area possessed a piece of clothing that was the same
as every other man (for example, a plaid kilt of certain colors and pattern). This
showed solidarity and enabled men to easily identify who belonged and who was
an outsider. More often than not, this was also the item of clothing the men
wore into battle, serving the purpose of allowing fighters to identify who was
friend and who foe. The idea of solidarity among men by a show of outward appearance
remained intact even as the staples of male clothing changed from tunics to
kilts to suits.
The
role of groomsmen is related to their unified attire: to protect the couple.
Wearing the same clothing allowed groomsmen to identify who was friend and who
was foe should an enemy interrupt the ceremony and try to harm either the bride
or groom.
(Every
wonder why weddings are “formal”? Because, historically, only men’s formal
outfits allowed them to wear a sword, thereby allowing him to fulfill his job
of providing security).
Okay,
it’s 2012 and we’ve got everyone dressed, now what?
Today,
the roles of bridesmaids and groomsmen are vastly different from the jobs with
which their historical counterparts were charged. Essentially, they’re much
more fun-centered than protection-centered (And, it’s certainly fine with us here
at HJ that weddings are less disruption prone than they were in the past).
Bridesmaid
and groomsmen tasks are pretty generally. Both usually:
- Attend the rehearsal so they are aware of what to do on the wedding day
- Supervise any flower girls or ring bearers before the ceremony
- Assist during the reception, according to the bride’s request (such as during the garter toss)
- Give a gift to the couple
However,
groomsmen also:
- Help with special seating arrangements
- Hand out programs prior to the ceremony
- Lay out the aisle runner
- Provide guests with direction to the reception cite
- Clean out the church
Who
would have thought that, technically, groomsmen have more duties than
bridesmaids? Ha!
