What the heck is a Bridesmaid, anyway?

Before this whole "wedding planning" process began, I honestly never really thought about weddings and marriage.  I thought I had it all figured out already - fall in love, get engaged, take a class, make your best friends dress up with you, get married, and then get wasted at the reception.  Seemed easy enough, but boy was I wrong!

There is SO MUCH that I didn't know about weddings and so much that I still haven't learned yet about the process, the traditions, the details, the - well, everything.

In my last "wedding" post, I talked a little bit about my color scheme and showed you some bridesmaid dresses.  Today I've got more awesome dresses to show you as well as some not-so-widely-known info about the role of the bridesmaid.

Photos found on The Green Guide bridesmaid dress collection

The success of a wedding celebration often relies on the support of the bridesmaids. These handpicked women are mostly close peers and relatives of the bride and they are tasked to help the bride in the preparation of concerns of the matrimony. Have you ever wondered how this tradition of having bridesmaids at wedding came to be? Why is it important to include these beautiful women in the wedding ceremony? Today we are going to explore the origins of the bridesmaid tradition that is still being followed by most wedding ceremonies of today.

Definition Of A Bridesmaid:

To begin with the discussion, let us talk about what it means to be a bridesmaid. A bridesmaid(s) is a keen companion of the bride on her wedding day. These group of women are given the responsibility to provide emotional and moral support to the bride who is about to be married and share with her joy on the day of matrimony. Aside from this specific function, the bridesmaid(s) is also required to aid the bride in the preparation of the wedding ceremony from the motifs, the dresses to be worn, even up to the tiniest details involved in the ceremony. So basically, these women are the official aids of the bride at her wedding day which goes with the same as with the groom’s men to the groom.

How The Bridesmaid Tradition Started:

The acquiring of bridesmaids during weddings was derived from 3 different origins. The first origin of the bridesmaid can be traced from the ancient Hebrew tradition that whenever a Hebrew woman is about to be married to a man, she should be provided with maids to help her fulfill her duties to her husband. This “duties” may even be expounded even after the marriage ceremony as the maids of the bride would be given the responsibility to produce a child for the husband if the bride fails to fulfill this wifely duty. This practice was even mentioned in the Bible when Jacob both married Leah and Rachel.

The second origin of the bridesmaid tradition was well developed by the ancient Romans during the time of their reign. The Romans were superstitious people that they believe the made a law concerning how to conduct wedding ceremonies. According to their law, 10 ladies must accompany the bride on her wedding day and they should wear the same dress as with the bride’s to confuse the evil spirits in cursing the newlyweds and breaking their marital bond.

And the last proposed origin of the bridesmaid tradition can be traced in England. According to the law, the Queen of England must have a ‘Maid of Honor’ to serve as her chief female attendant. These women are tasked to aid the Queen in all of her endeavors even to the matters of the heart.

Nowadays, bridesmaids are not obliged to do the duties they were asked to fulfill before. They even have the luxury of wearing fashionable bridesmaid dresses from the modest bridesmaid dresses up to the most elegant of gowns. Bridesmaids of today have a more positive purpose in weddings and have come a long way than being a literal subordinate to the bride.

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See, now doesn't that make you happy to be living in the 21st century?  I know that I would NOT want the responsibility of bearing someone else's child - I mean, thanks for choosing me as your bridesmaid and all, but no thank you.

Happy Labor Day!