The Use of Plants in Wedding Ceremonies

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The Use of Plants in Wedding Ceremonies

• Alycia Davis
• davi4310_at_wlu.ca

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Weddings

• Through all cultures it is important in the life
  history of an individual
• Strong wedding rituals across cultures
• People have a need for rituals, they provide a
  point of stability and consistency in their lives
• Rituals of weddings are chosen to convey a
  lasting effect on the marriage
• Brings two people together and establishes a new
  family which gains social recognition and
  sanction via approved marriage ceremony

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Weddings

• Typical Western culture wedding
• Flowers for
• Bouquet for bride and bridesmaids
• Corsage for female family members
• Boutonnieres for groom, groomsmen, male family
  members
• Decorating the church altar and pews
• Dress shape and detail
• Average cost for flowers 1000-2000

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Flowers/Plants

• Why so important?
• Do all cultures value plants in wedding
  ceremonies?
• YES!!
• Christian
• Indian
• Greek
• Chinese
• African

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Christian WeddingsWestern culture

• Takes place in church
• God blessing the holy sacrament of marriage
• Union of man and woman, sharing a life together
• Traditionally the woman submits herself to the
  man
• Virginity is valued
• Fertility, once married, is hoped for

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Christian WeddingsWestern culture

• Flowers worn by the bride
• Coronet of flowers around head, bridal garland
• Tribute to brides virtue
• Began as a wreath of olive, myrtle, laurel
• Symbolize peace (between families?), beautys
  crown, wedded love, ever lasting life/love,
  chastity
• Orange blossoms
• purity, chastity, innocence, fruitfullness
• Roses
• beauty, love

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Christian WeddingsWestern culture

• Victorian era garland removed from head and made
  into bouquet
• Orange blossoms used
• Roses
• White colour
• Symbol of purity
• Nowadays colourful, individual, based on
  aesthetic preference
• 4 types
• Nosegays
• Cascade
• Hand tied
• contemporary

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Christian WeddingsWestern culture

• Flowers of the ceremony
• Bride and grooms houses decorated with olive and
  laurel leaves
• Symbol of virtue and abundance
• Now decorate the altar
• Flowers scattered from brides house to church
• Assures a happy path through life
• Now a flower girl spreads flowers in the aisle of
  the church

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Indian WeddingsHindu

• 3 days
• Major cultural event, saved for and prepared for
  since child's birth
• Arranged by kin of children
• Takes place during Karttika (October-November)
• Closely linked to tulsi worship
• Bride is treated as a flower
• Blossoming ceremony
• Flowers in girls
• Flowers offered to puja just as woman is offered
  to man

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Indian WeddingsHindu

• Tulsi
• Marriage of tulsi plant to Vishnu recognized as
  Karttika
• Begins the marriage season of Hindu people
• Worshiped to obtain a good husband
• Worshiped for fertility
• Placed at altar during wedding ceremony

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Indian WeddingsHindu

• Pipal tree (fig tree)
• Worship brings husband
• Ensure longevity in their husbands
• Used at weddings to ward off evil spirits
• Tali (gold fig leaf charm) tied around brides
  neck
• Represents phallus, strengthens young woman and
  her vulva

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Indian WeddingsHindu

• Tumeric
• Critical role in Hindu marriage provides yellow
  colour
• Bride and groom sprinkled with tumeric and oil on
  first day of wedding
• Brides robe dyed in tumeric
• Wedding invitations coloured with tumeric
• Splattered on wall and worshiped by bride and
  groom
• Purify couple
• Protect from evil
• Enhance communion between couple
• Facilitate fertility and ease of birth
• Well-being and happiness

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Indian WeddingsHindu

• White robes, red and yellow flowers worn by bride
  and groom
• White purity
• Red passion, lust, vigor, strength, fertility
• Yellow recall tumeric

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Greek Weddings

• Floral crowns
• Bouquets
• Many rituals involving almonds, figs, pomegranates

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Greek Weddings

• Almond tree
• First to bloom in Greece
• Brings spring and life
• Almonds used to water bride and groom
• Make new blossoms sprout new life together
  through children

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Greek Weddings

• Sugared almonds
• Used in modern wedding ceremonies
• Symbolizes life, fertility, purity and virginity
• Pouring of almonds takes place during dance of
  Isaiah
• Couple are showered with almonds, rice and figs
• Develops into riot and results in bruises and
  damage to church
• Also thrown as bride and groom leave the church
• Scattered on marriage bed
• Thrown by bride into the new house she will share
  with her husband

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Greek Weddings

• Fig
• Symbol of Dionysus
• Represents the female genetalia
• Bride showered by figs as she enters the grooms
  (her new) house, as well as almonds and
  pomegranate seeds
• Baskets of figs represent love, marriage,
  fertility and abundance

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Chinese Weddings

• Origin of symbolism of orange blossoms
• Use of peach flowers
• Use of pomegranates in wedding dinners and given
  as wedding gifts

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Chinese Weddings

• Orange blossoms
• Incorporated in to brides costumes, bridal wreath
• symbols of purity, chastity and innocence
• Orange tree is the most prolific tree, blossoms
  and fruits at same time
• Symbol of fruitfulness and fertility
• Symbolism was brought back to western culture
  from China

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Chinese Weddings

• Peaches and Peach flowers
• Flowers at time of Chinese new year
• Symbolize spring time and new life
• Symbolize marriage, bride, beauty
• Longevity, immortality and protection against
  evil spirits

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Chinese Weddings

• Pomegranate
• Symbolizes fertility, many sons and perpetuation
  of family
• Wedding gifts
• Toilet filled with pomegranate seeds and eggs

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The Kuanyama Ambo tribe

• One of the biggest and most important of the
  eight Ambo tribes
• Bantu tribe Located on the northern fluvial flood
  plateau of South West Africa
• Many magical uses for plants, in life and in
  wedding ceremonies

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Kuanyama use of Plants in Weddings

• Brides Jasmin Berry Tassels for the Hair
• Jasminum mauritianum called oshihamulende
• Berries believed to favour conception
• Fertility plants in the Peaks of Bridal Hats
• Called ohala ostrich feather
• Fern fronds in brides hat during two month ash
  girl ceremony

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Conclusions

• Plants and Flowers are used in ALL weddings
• Worn by bride and groom, used as decoration, part
  of rituals
• Strong symbols of
• brides purity, virtue, and fertility,
• Femininity, beauty
• abundance, positive future
• All cultures value and put emphasis of the above
  in wedding ceremonies

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References

• Chesser, B.J. 1980. Analysis of wedding rituals
  an attempth to make weddings more meaningful.
  Family relations, 29 204-209
• Edwards, T.B. 1996. The sugared almond in modern
  Greek rites of passage. Folklore, 107 49-56
• Procario-Foley, E.G. Ross, M. Schrader, B.,
  Terian, S.K. 2004. Marriage Rituals, Routledge
  publishin, NY. pp. 230-236
• Grey, D. 2007. Christian Symbols and their
  Meanings, third ed. pp. 150-169. accessed on
  March 28, 2007 from http//www.christiansymbols.ne
  t/book_index_page2.htm
• Kolenda, P. 1984. Woman as tribute, woman as
  flower images of woman in weddings in North
  and South India. American Ethnologist, 11 98-117
• Peterson, E. H., Miller, C. Weddings, Funerals
  and Special Events, volume 10. Word Publishing,
  DA, 1987
• Seatun, B. Towards a historical semiotics of
  literary flower personification. Poetics today,
  10 679-701
• Signs and Symbols, Representing God and the
  Saints, Plants Trees and Flowers. Internet
  accessed on March 28, 2007 from
  http//www.catholictradition.org/Saints/signs4.htm
  
• Simoons, F.J. Plants of Life, Plants of Death.
  The University of Wisconsin Press, Wisconsin,
  1998.
• To Gather Orange blossoms Internet accessed
  March 20, 2007 available from www.victoriana.com
• Victorian weddings Internet accessed March 20,
  2007 available from www.literary-liasons.com