Throwing Rice
Pelting newlyweds with uncooked starchy vegetables is a time-honored tradition meant to shower the new couple with prosperity, fertility and, of course, good fortune. Oats, grains and dried corn were also used before rice rose to the top as the preferred symbolic sprinkle. Rice lost its popularity when it became widely rumored that if birds ate the rice, it would expand in their stomach and kill them. This is decidedly untrue, as is evidenced by the fact that birds eat dried rice and corn and other dehydrated vegetables and grains from fields all the time and we have yet to see any mention of a national, exploding-bird epidemic running on the CNN news ticker.Rice can be a hazard to guests, who can lose their footing on rice covered pavement and take a nasty spill. Turns out, even rice alternatives have their drawbacks. Two Texas women were badly injured at a wedding in May 2008 while trying to light celebratory sparklers to send off the bride and groom. The group of sparklers ignited all at once and exploded, burning one woman’s face and both of their arms. One guest at a Russian wedding in Chechnya last March decided to buck tradition altogether and threw an armed hand grenade into the unsuspecting crowd, injuring a dozen people. Our advice? Stick with rose petals. They are soft, non-hazardous, non-lethal and biodegradable.
FYI: I'm not paying money so you'll have something to throw at me. If you want to throw money, go ahead!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
These Are a Few of My Favorite Foods
Finally, a tradition I can get my taste buds behind! Not so keen about some of the origins/traditions (trust me, I'm not saving the top for a year. I'm eating that puppy that night!)associated w/ the cake, but I am in favor of cake. Yes indeedy! In fact, it's my favorite food. Well, wedding cake, anyway!
The Wedding Cake
We have to believe that there was a time, somewhere in history, when the whole, “Will they/won’t they smash cake in each other’s faces!” scenario was actually clever and original (even if we couldn’t find any evidence of it). What we did find was the granddaddy predecessor to cake-face-smashing: the breaking of baked goods over the bride’s head. Customarily, the groom would gnaw off a bite of barley bread and then the remainder of the loaf was held above the newlywed bride’s head and then broken, showering her with crumbs and a soul-crushing message of her husband’s male dominance. Guests would then scramble to pick up any wayward crumbs off the floor as they were said to bring good…wait for it… luck!This tradition evolved as cake emerged as the preferred confection for wedding celebrations. Fortunately for the bride, a whole cake doesn’t break in two quite as dramatically as a loaf of bread and so it was sliced on a table instead. Rather than scrounge for lucky crumbs on the floor, guests would stand in line while the bride passed tiny, fortune-blessed morsels of cake through her own wedding ring into the hands of the waiting masses. This act also fell by the wayside, as we can only assume the bride determined that it was a lousy waste of her time. Thus began the tradition of giving out whole slices of cake to each guest, not to be eaten, but to be placed under their pillow at night for (yup, here it is again) good luck and, for the ladies, sweet dreams of their future husbands.
Refusing to Throw Away the Leftovers
This leads to another sweet, delicious, buttercream-iced mystery to be solved: Why do couples eat freezer-burned wedding cake on their one-year anniversary? To answer this, we must look to the lyrics of a schoolyard classic: First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage! It used to be assumed that when there was a wedding, a christening would follow shortly. So, rather than bake two cakes for the occasions, they’d just bake one big one and save a part of it to be eaten at a later date when the squealing bundle of joy arrived. Eventually folks warmed to the idea of giving the poor kid his own, newly baked cake, but the custom of saving a portion of the wedding cake far longer than it should be saved and then eating it and deluding oneself to believe that it actually tastes good is one that persists to this day.
Tradition courtsey of http://www.mentalfloss.com/
The Wedding Cake
We have to believe that there was a time, somewhere in history, when the whole, “Will they/won’t they smash cake in each other’s faces!” scenario was actually clever and original (even if we couldn’t find any evidence of it). What we did find was the granddaddy predecessor to cake-face-smashing: the breaking of baked goods over the bride’s head. Customarily, the groom would gnaw off a bite of barley bread and then the remainder of the loaf was held above the newlywed bride’s head and then broken, showering her with crumbs and a soul-crushing message of her husband’s male dominance. Guests would then scramble to pick up any wayward crumbs off the floor as they were said to bring good…wait for it… luck!This tradition evolved as cake emerged as the preferred confection for wedding celebrations. Fortunately for the bride, a whole cake doesn’t break in two quite as dramatically as a loaf of bread and so it was sliced on a table instead. Rather than scrounge for lucky crumbs on the floor, guests would stand in line while the bride passed tiny, fortune-blessed morsels of cake through her own wedding ring into the hands of the waiting masses. This act also fell by the wayside, as we can only assume the bride determined that it was a lousy waste of her time. Thus began the tradition of giving out whole slices of cake to each guest, not to be eaten, but to be placed under their pillow at night for (yup, here it is again) good luck and, for the ladies, sweet dreams of their future husbands.Refusing to Throw Away the Leftovers
This leads to another sweet, delicious, buttercream-iced mystery to be solved: Why do couples eat freezer-burned wedding cake on their one-year anniversary? To answer this, we must look to the lyrics of a schoolyard classic: First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage! It used to be assumed that when there was a wedding, a christening would follow shortly. So, rather than bake two cakes for the occasions, they’d just bake one big one and save a part of it to be eaten at a later date when the squealing bundle of joy arrived. Eventually folks warmed to the idea of giving the poor kid his own, newly baked cake, but the custom of saving a portion of the wedding cake far longer than it should be saved and then eating it and deluding oneself to believe that it actually tastes good is one that persists to this day.
Tradition courtsey of http://www.mentalfloss.com/
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Casual Friday
Ya'll know that my casual is other people's dressy, and I'm disappointed in the casualization of society. You may disagree with me, but you'll have to agree that this co-worker has taken it too far!
I'm Sticking to Chocolate and Strawberry: Beautiful and Delicious
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue (and a Sixpence in My Shoe?)
A common theme that you’ve no doubt noticed throughout this post: humans used to be a superstitious bunch. This rhyming phrase neatly lists a number of English customs dating back to the Victorian age which, when worn in combination, should bring the bride oodles of fabulous good luck. The something old was meant to tie the bride to her family and her past, while the something new represented her new life as the property of a new family. The item borrowed was supposed to be taken from someone who was already a successfully married wife, so as to pass on a bit of her good fortune to the new bride. The color blue (Virgin Mary-approved!) stood for all sorts of super fun things like faithfulness, loyalty, and purity. The sixpence, of course, was meant to bring the bride and her new groom actual, cold, hard fortune. Just in case that wasn’t enough, brides of yore also carried bunches of herbs (which most brides now replace with expensive, out-of-season peonies) to ward off evil spirits.
A common theme that you’ve no doubt noticed throughout this post: humans used to be a superstitious bunch. This rhyming phrase neatly lists a number of English customs dating back to the Victorian age which, when worn in combination, should bring the bride oodles of fabulous good luck. The something old was meant to tie the bride to her family and her past, while the something new represented her new life as the property of a new family. The item borrowed was supposed to be taken from someone who was already a successfully married wife, so as to pass on a bit of her good fortune to the new bride. The color blue (Virgin Mary-approved!) stood for all sorts of super fun things like faithfulness, loyalty, and purity. The sixpence, of course, was meant to bring the bride and her new groom actual, cold, hard fortune. Just in case that wasn’t enough, brides of yore also carried bunches of herbs (which most brides now replace with expensive, out-of-season peonies) to ward off evil spirits.
via http://www.mentalfloss.com/ (again)
Friday, July 11, 2008
Joke of Today
My old (that's right, she turned 30 on Monday!) roommate's husband got a job @ Blue Bell! This is huge, because he's been looking for a while, and it's a job he'll really enjoy. The company is unashamedly Christian, he gets to work with people, he'll travel a lot so he won't be trapped behind a desk, plus, he'll get a company car! The benefits are good and will start soon, with raises in the near future. Of course, I didn't ask about any of this. My first question was...
...that's right, you guessed it, "Does this mean we get free ice cream?"
But that's not the joke. The funny part is when in informed Cube of this development, his immediate question was...
..."Does this mean we get free ice cream?"
Are we made for each other, or what?
...that's right, you guessed it, "Does this mean we get free ice cream?"
But that's not the joke. The funny part is when in informed Cube of this development, his immediate question was...
..."Does this mean we get free ice cream?"
Are we made for each other, or what?
Place your orders here!
Joke of Yesterday
I actually went to a salon and let someone cut my hair yesterday. I'll admit, it looks better than it did. A lot of the dead is gone. But even though she claimed she knew how to cut curly hair, she did nothing different than anyone else ever has. It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look great.
Anyway...
I texted my sisters to see if they had plans for their hair (for my wedding).
Deborah's reply?
We bought ours!
Anyway...I texted my sisters to see if they had plans for their hair (for my wedding).
Deborah's reply?
We bought ours!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Tradition Behind the Debacle
Garter and Bouquet Toss
This pair of rituals has long been the scourge of the modern wedding guest. What could possibly be more humiliating than being forced out to the center of a parquet dance floor while a wedding DJ advertises your lack of a boyfriend and then being expected to further demonstrate your desperation by diving for flying flowers? Wait…. Yup, we can top that. How about grasping in the air for a lacy piece of undergarment that until moments ago resided uncomfortably close to the crotch of your buddy’s wife? At any other point in time, that would make you a total perv, so why is it acceptable at a wedding? Well, hold on to your scruples boys and girls, because the history behind these customs is downright dirty.
It used to be that after the bride and groom said, “I do,” they were to go immediately into a nearby room and “close the deal” and consummate the marriage. Obviously, to really make it official, there would need to be witnesses, which basically led to hordes of wedding guests crowding around the bed, pushing and shoving to get a good view and hopefully to get their hands on a lucky piece of the bride’s dress as it was ripped from her body. Sometimes the greedy guests helped get the process going by grabbing at the bride’s dress as she walked by, hoping for a few threads of good fortune. In time, it seems, people realized that this was all a bit, well… creepy, and it was decided that for modesty’s sake the bride could toss her bouquet as a diversion as she made her getaway and the groom could simply remove an item of the bride’s undergarments and then toss it back outside to the waiting throngs to prove that he was about to, uh, get ‘er done.
It used to be that after the bride and groom said, “I do,” they were to go immediately into a nearby room and “close the deal” and consummate the marriage. Obviously, to really make it official, there would need to be witnesses, which basically led to hordes of wedding guests crowding around the bed, pushing and shoving to get a good view and hopefully to get their hands on a lucky piece of the bride’s dress as it was ripped from her body. Sometimes the greedy guests helped get the process going by grabbing at the bride’s dress as she walked by, hoping for a few threads of good fortune. In time, it seems, people realized that this was all a bit, well… creepy, and it was decided that for modesty’s sake the bride could toss her bouquet as a diversion as she made her getaway and the groom could simply remove an item of the bride’s undergarments and then toss it back outside to the waiting throngs to prove that he was about to, uh, get ‘er done.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Bouquet Debacle
Ok, team, I need you to put on your thinking caps and help me solve this one.
In this very non-traditional wedding we're not using the traditional flowers as decoration. None anywhere whatsoever.
I'm cool w/ it. I know nothing about flowers anyway, so it's actually easier.
Well, easier except for the traditional bridal bouquet.
I don't yet have an alternative.
If I were Catholic, I'd just carry my rosary, or if I were an old maid, I'd carry my cat.
But these don't apply. I need something I can carry and possibly throw to the next bride-to-be w/ out damaging the recepient or the floor when she dodges it (I know, the complete works of Shakespeare is definitely out).
Do you have any ideas?
I guess I'm understanding why some of the traditions are in place. They're just easier!
In this very non-traditional wedding we're not using the traditional flowers as decoration. None anywhere whatsoever.
I'm cool w/ it. I know nothing about flowers anyway, so it's actually easier.
Well, easier except for the traditional bridal bouquet.
I don't yet have an alternative.
If I were Catholic, I'd just carry my rosary, or if I were an old maid, I'd carry my cat.
But these don't apply. I need something I can carry and possibly throw to the next bride-to-be w/ out damaging the recepient or the floor when she dodges it (I know, the complete works of Shakespeare is definitely out).
Do you have any ideas?
I guess I'm understanding why some of the traditions are in place. They're just easier!
So Much to Do, So Little Time
programs (email schedule to Jan)
concierge list
buy Cyrus' ring
make bridesmaids gift(s)
finish guest book
write vows
announcements
label centerpiece bowls
returns
prep box
pack for honeymoon
choose song for father/daughter dance
finalize menu
finalize Jenks payment etc
finalize pictures
make banners for decor
bouquet
buy candy
buy plates/napkins
chocolate for fountain
finalize guest countthank you cardshair cuthair style
pack to move
(And that's just the wedding related stuff)
concierge list
buy Cyrus' ring
make bridesmaids gift(s)
finish guest book
write vows
announcements
label centerpiece bowls
returns
prep box
pack for honeymoon
choose song for father/daughter dance
finalize menu
finalize Jenks payment etc
finalize pictures
make banners for decor
bouquet
buy candy
buy plates/napkins
chocolate for fountain
finalize guest countthank you cardshair cuthair style
pack to move
(And that's just the wedding related stuff)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Not Really My Idea of a Party
Talk about your runaway brides—the original duty of a “Best Man” was to serve as armed backup for the groom in case he had to resort to kidnapping his intended bride away from disapproving parents. The “best” part of that title refers to his skill with a sword, should the need arise. (You wouldn’t want to take the “just okay” member of your weapon-wielding posse with you to steal yourself a wife, would you?)
The best man stands guard next to the groom right up through the exchange of vows (and later, outside the newlyweds’ bedroom door), just in case anyone should attack or if a non-acquiescent bride should try to make a run for it. It’s said that feisty groups like the Huns, Goths and Visigoths took so many brides by force that they kept a cache of weapons stored beneath the floorboards of churches for convenience. Modern-day best men are more likely to store an emergency six-pack at the ceremony for convenience, but the title remains an apt one.
Ladies—believe it or not, the concept of the bridesmaid’s gown was not invented to inflict painful dowdiness upon the bride’s friends and female relatives thus making the bride look hotter by comparison. Historica
lly, that dress you’ll never wear again was actually selected with the purpose of tricking the eye of evil spirits and jealous ex-lovers (spicy!). Brides’ faithful attendants were instructed to wear a dress similar to that of the bride so that during their group stroll to the church it would be hard for any ill-willed spirits or former boy-toys to spot the bride and curse/kidnap/throw rocks at her. (Ditto for the boys in matching penguin suits, saving the groom from a similar fate.) Memo to the Maid of Honor: if you think organizing a themed shower complete with quiche, cupcakes and creative uses of toilet paper as a game is a tough gig, imagine this: MoH’s of old used to be responsible for making nearly all of the wedding decorations and putting them up herself.
The best man stands guard next to the groom right up through the exchange of vows (and later, outside the newlyweds’ bedroom door), just in case anyone should attack or if a non-acquiescent bride should try to make a run for it. It’s said that feisty groups like the Huns, Goths and Visigoths took so many brides by force that they kept a cache of weapons stored beneath the floorboards of churches for convenience. Modern-day best men are more likely to store an emergency six-pack at the ceremony for convenience, but the title remains an apt one.
Ladies—believe it or not, the concept of the bridesmaid’s gown was not invented to inflict painful dowdiness upon the bride’s friends and female relatives thus making the bride look hotter by comparison. Historica
lly, that dress you’ll never wear again was actually selected with the purpose of tricking the eye of evil spirits and jealous ex-lovers (spicy!). Brides’ faithful attendants were instructed to wear a dress similar to that of the bride so that during their group stroll to the church it would be hard for any ill-willed spirits or former boy-toys to spot the bride and curse/kidnap/throw rocks at her. (Ditto for the boys in matching penguin suits, saving the groom from a similar fate.) Memo to the Maid of Honor: if you think organizing a themed shower complete with quiche, cupcakes and creative uses of toilet paper as a game is a tough gig, imagine this: MoH’s of old used to be responsible for making nearly all of the wedding decorations and putting them up herself. 
~borrowed from Mental Floss again: http://www.mentalfloss.com/
_____________________________
I guess we already know my thoughts on this one, seeing as how we have no wedding party in this sense. Only the party that you're attending! Good food, good friends, good times. I guess I'm not scared of a run-away groom (I'm definitely not going anywhere!) or evil spirits on this occasion. As for the ugly dresses, well, no one will be as beautiful as me, anyway, that's why I'm willing to let them try. Although, if I don't get in touch w/ a hair stylist soon, this may change!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)