Wedding Traditions Quiz

Just some questions to ponder if you're having a slow day at work...

1. In the rhyme, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," "blue" is symbolic of:
a) The time before the bride met the groom.
b) True love.
c) The clear skies hoped for on the wedding morning, and symbolically, throughout the marriage.
d) The blood of royalty, since both the bride and the groom were once considered to be "royal" on their wedding day.
e) None of the above.

2. "Thrice a bridesmaid, never a bride" is an old charm that can be broken by:
a) Hanging a true love knot made from the skin of frogs in the window during a full moon
b) Making a paste from mistletoe berries and rubbing it into your
pillowcase on the night of a full moon.
c) Being a bridesmaid five times.
d) Being a bridesmaid seven times.
e) None of the above.

3. Bridesmaids dress the same as each other and in similar style to the bride because:
a) In early times, when arranged marriages were still common, if someone objected to the proposed marriage during the ceremony, a substitute was readily available.
b) It has come to be considered tasteful in the 20th century, while in previous centuries it was thought to be a sign of rudeness to compete with the attire chosen by the bride.
c) Evil spirits have a more difficult time distinguishing which one is the bride and putting a hex on her.
d) It has evolved as a cost-effective measure to have the bridesmaids' dresses made at the same time.
e) None of the above.

4. Which one of the following is not a wedding tradition:
a) Feeding the cat out of an old shoe on the wedding day.
b) Preventing the groom and bride from seeing each other on the morning of the wedding.
c) Sipping milk fresh from the cow on the morning of the wedding.
d) The bride throwing one stocking over her left shoulder as she undresses on the wedding night.
e) The bride placing a dime in her shoe the morning of the wedding for
good luck.

5. Yer standard medieval chastity belt:
a) Became popular among upper class families in the Middle Ages while the husband was overseas fighting in the crusades.
b) Was a lockable device that some aspirant female saints voluntarily enclosed themselves in and then threw away the key.
c) Contained one or more narrow apertures to enable normal bodily functions to continue, but which were often faced with spikes or metal teeth to discourage the truly hardy suitor.
d) All of the above.

6. If the ring is dropped by the groom before it is placed on the bride's finger, it is:
a) A sign of bad luck.
b) A sign that the groom is clumsy.
c) A sign that the groom would like to back out.
d) A sign that the groom is nervous.
e) Possibly all of the above.

7. The groom must carry the bride over the threshold:
a) To appease the goddess of chastity, Diana.
b) To avert danger from the envious witchcraft of the evil eye.
c) To show that the husband will carry the burden of the work done around the house.
d) None of the above.

8. Which one of the following throwing traditions is false:
a) In India, a coconut was passed three times over the bride and groom, then shattered on the ground to drive away demons.
b) In Morocco, the groom would throw an egg at his wife so she would have ease at childbirth.
c) Greeks and Romans tossed kernels of wheat and corn at a new couple. The grain was a symbol of food and childbearing.
d) The throwing of the garter comes from a British tradition called "Flinging the Stocking." Friends would storm into the wedding couple's bedroom, remove the bride and groom's stockings and while sitting on the bed, take turns "flinging" the stocking at the newlyweds. The first to have their stocking "flung" on the nose of the bride or groom would be the next to marry.
e) In Palestine, the wedding party tossed fig leaves at the bride and groom before the festivities began to wish them a fruitful and fertile marriage.

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Answers: 1-b | 2-d | 3-c | 4-c | 5-d | 6-a | 7-b | 8-e

JULY 26TH — Holiday Inn Rooms released!

Yep, I know I'm being totally annoying with the reminders, but the Holiday Inn is very nice with newly renovated rooms. The Baymont Inn & Suites is nice also, though a little more expensive. We just want our guests happy and comfortable.

If you do not get a room by August 26th (when the Baymont releases the rooms to the public) there will be no other hotels in Lawrence for the weekend. All the others are booked solid for the Nascar Event at the Kansas Speedway. So please, if you are coming to the Kansas Wedding, get those rooms booked!!

A shuttle will be running from the two wedding hotels, to the Ranch for the Wedding and after the Reception back to those hotels (details still being worked out on that).

Scooters are cool.

Someday I will have a scooter. Yes, I know I do not have the world's best balance, nor do I typically enjoy two-wheeled vehicles, well, most anything recreational on wheels, but I will have a lime green scooter. And I will have a sidecar for E1 (and sometimes Tiller) and a cute helmet, safety first!

I prefer the term "scooter" to "moped." A scooter is a style of two-wheeled motor vehicle defined by characteristics such as a step-through frame, wheels less than 16" in diameter, and an engine located below the rider and to the rear. Mopeds are a class of low-powered motorized vehicle under 50cc, generally two-wheeled, driven in an upright position with the rider's back at a right angle to the seat.

Genuine Scooter Company
The Buddy International with their two-toned paint scheme are pretty sweet, the Buddy: Saint-Tropez (pictured right) or the Buddy: Little Italia. GSC was founded by now President Philip McCaleb, worked in Europe and "upon his return to the states, McCaleb didn't see millions of people driving around in cars. Instead, he saw millions of people who loved scooters (they just didn't know it yet)."

After restoring and selling vintage Vespa's and other scooters, McCaleb got ahold of some vintage scooter manufacturing equipment and produced his own, the Stella (pictured left). Success has continued along with the formation of both Stella www.stellaspeed.com and Buddy online groups, Modern Buddy. Scooter subculture, the Erins kind of people.

Vespa Probably the most well known scooter manufacturer, "evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946." "With its elegant lines and classic aesthetics, the Vespa is recognized as the epitome of Italian design" but I find the Stella and Buddy more appealing because they aren't as mass produced.

With the rising price of gas (how many times have you heard that phrase on the news lately?) scooter sales are also increasing. Hooray, more scooters! For you Ohioans, this Columbus Business Journal article discusses the increase in sales. Grandpa Piehler can be spotted happily riding his scooter around Gahanna.

SCOOTERS WHERE YOU LIVE!
Columbus:
Columbus Scooter & Cycle Outlet: 935 King Ave
Kickstart Scooters: Combo scooter store and coffee shop!
Zoot Scoots
Cincinnati:
Metro Scooter
Chicago:
Scooter Works
Windy City Scooter Rental
Genuine Scooter Company
Oklahoma City:
Atomic Brown Scooter Shop
OKCCuriosity:
Non-profit of scooter aficionados

Now you might be thinking, what does this have to do with weddings. Think how awesome it would be for the Bride and Groom to ride into the sunset in their BRAND NEW lime green scooter with side car? You could make that dream a reality.

Summer Showers bring September flowers?

Okay that was a stretch, but there will be a bridal shower this Sunday and flowers at the wedding in September. Anyway...those of you attending the Columbus Shower, cannot wait to see you!! As the rain pours down on Kansas City, decided to research bridal showers a bit. The custom originated here, and is celebrated primarily in the US and Canada.

The custom of the bridal shower is said to have grown out of earlier dowry practices when a poor woman's family might not have the money to provide a dowry for her, or when a father refused to give his daughter her dowry because he did not approve of the marriage. In such situations, friends of the woman would gather together and bring gifts that would compensate for the dowry and allow her to marry the man of her choice.

The man of my choice doesn't get a dowry, so far he's gotten my collection of Eeyore figurines, letterpress posters and a closet full of clothes and Keds. Poor Jerrod. But luckily Dad approves of him and gave his blessing before Jerrod proposed. Also read that a bridal shower is meant to, "socialize women into the hyper-feminized traditional wife role." Not sure how I feel about that part...

I am not sure what Mrs. Taylor, Aunt Kathy and Marcia have in store for Sunday, but sometimes there are bridal shower themes. With the 24-7 Shower Theme, guests are assigned a time of day that the gifts will be used by the bride; morning, midday and night. Or there's a Recipe Shower, each cook brings a recipe and some items needed to prepare the dish, a recipe card can be included with the invite.

This whole Suzy Homemaker notion of bridal showers is quite amusing. "A bridal shower gives women a chance to indulge their inner-Mrs. Cleavers and pretend, if only for an afternoon, that once married the bride-to-be will use her slew of newly acquired kitchen accessories to make a tasty (yet nutritious) homemade meal for her hard working husband." Hehe.

Not to say that I won't happily accept the awesome kitchen gadgets and other items, just as long as I don't have to wear an apron and pearls when I use them. Thank you again to those planning and coming to my party!