Victoria’s Read

1. Which queen started the vogue for white wedding gowns?
-Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
-Queen Marie Antoinette
-Queen Victoria
-Queen Elizabeth I

2. You’ll often see shoes tied to the bumper of the newlyweds car. Where did that tradition originate?
-Ancient Greece
-Mediaeval Germany
-Anglo-Saxon England
-Renaissance Italy

3. Where would you find a bride going from door to door to collect wedding presents in a pillow case?
-Canada
-Southern Italy
-Finland
-Wales
4. In rural areas in the Czech Republic, it is a tradition that the bride wear something made by her family and friends. What does she wear?
-A wreath of rosemary
-A lace kerchief
-Woolen stockings
-An embroidered apron

5. Where would you be if the bride came into the church with a lump of sugar in her glove?
-Ireland
-Russia
-Sweden
-Greece

6. Why does a traditional Japanese bride wear a triangular head band.
-To cover her horns
-To keep the hair off her face
-To honour her ancestors
-To signify virginity

ANSWERS

1. Until Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, royal British brides wore silver gowns on their wedding day. Victoria, always a girl who liked her own way, broke tradition and opted for white - and white has been the colour for wedding dresses in the West ever since.

2. Once the vows had been exchanged at an Anglo-Saxon wedding, the bridegroom would take off his shoe and smack the bride with it to symbolize that she was now under his authority.

3. It is an old Finnish rural custom. The bride is accompanied by an older male relative who holds an open umbrella over the bride’s head to signify protection. The bride receives a gift as well as a drink.

4. The wreath of rosemary is woven by the bride’s friends on the eve of the wedding, to signify wisdom, love and loyalty.

5. Greek brides slip a lump of sugar inside one of their gloves on their wedding day to ensure that their married life will be sweet.

6. Evidently, it was once believed that women have horns of jealousy and a bride wears a tsunokakushi to hide them on her wedding day.