Week 7 - Leap Year Proposal

Welcome to Week 7 in our ’52 Rituals/Traditions in 52 Weeks’

This week, given that we are in a leap year and I’m sure many of you have been hearing lots of wonderful stories about the tradition of leap year proposals, as we have, we thought we would do a little post about this age old tradition which is widely known and definitely a favourite. In Anglo-Saxon times it was considered to be very lucky if a couple married in a leap year. It was especially lucky if the woman herself had proposed in that leap year.

The 29^th day of February every four years in a leap year sees every woman have the right to propose to the man she would like to marry. (I wish brad Pitt had been somewhere close by). This tradition goes back many hundreds of years to a time when the leap year day actually had no recognition in English law. It was considered that the day was simply 'lept over' and ignored, which obviously coined the term 'leap year'.

Given that there was absolutely no recognition of the day It was considered, therefore, that as it had no legal status, it was reasonable then to assume that traditions also had no status.

As a consequence, the many women who were desperately concerned about becoming spinsters and being 'left on the shelf' took advantage of this and proposed to the man they wished to marry.

It was also widely accepted that since the leap year day corrected the discrepancy between the calendar year of 365 days and the time taken for the Earth to complete one orbit of the sun (being 365 days and 6 hours), this was an opportunity for the women of the world to correct a tradition that was one-sided and unjust.

An old rhyme refers to tradition:

“Happy they’ll be that wed and wive,

Within leap year, they’re sure to thrive.”

There is actually a document from Scotland that states that women were thereafter allowed to propose marriage to the man of their choice in a leap year. If a man dared to decline a woman’s proposal on this day he would be required to pay a fine which could possibly range from a simple kiss to the more costly gift of a silk dress or pair of gloves.

So ladies, we hope you al had a wonderful February 29^th and to those of you who stood up courageously and proposed we wish you all of the good luck that hundreds of years of history has promised.

The Wedding Guru’s

Unique Wedding Dresses

We have sifted through the unique, weird and plain ugly wedding dresses on the internet to bring you our top picks - enjoy!

 Created with thousands of pieces of paper

A walking crockenbouche

This took 250m of hair, 1500 crytals and 12 underskirts to create

  

The Wedding Guru's

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Please note: These photographs have been compiled from numerous sources including Facebook posts and other web pages. These photographs are not the property of The Wedding Guru's. If you would like any information on contacting the owner of a particular photograph we would be happy to assist.

Week 6 - Traditional Smoking Ceremony

Welcome to week 6 of our '52 Traditions / Rituals in 52 weeks' this week we are bringing to you a 'Traditional Smoking Ceremony'. 


Indigenous Australian culture and its people are rich in ceremonial tradition and spiritual connection to their land. It is their spiritual connection to this land as ‘Mother’ that makes their ceremonies, rituals and traditions so absolutely spellbinding and magnificent. It is the perfect ritual to incorporate into a wedding ceremony.

A traditional ‘Smoking’ involves bringing together various native plants either in a fire or using a smudge stick and smoldering them to produce smoke. It is believed among indigenous Australians, that this smoke has cleansing and healing properties and also has the added ability to ward off any bad spirits that may be lurking around. Although performed at many events including building openings, births and deaths, it is a wonderful way of beginning a wedding ceremony, allowing the couple to go into the marriage feeling cleansed and free, with no bad spirits to bring them bad luck.

I (Susan) was lucky enough to see a ‘Smoking’ ceremony performed by an Aboriginal celebrant from the Northern Territory at a celebrant conference here in Adelaide a few years ago and its power was amazing. I immediately fell in love with the symbolism behind the ritual and its wonderful cleansing power.

There are a few options for conducting a smoking ritual as part of a wedding ceremony, however as many of us live in the city it can be difficult to find an adequate place to light a fire and we may need to consider an alternative.

Firstly, a ‘Smoking’ may be conducted by placing the chosen leaves on a small fire perhaps in a fire resistant trough or bowl and then allowing the smoke to cover the bride and groom and the other participants’ bodies, ridding them of what is not needed. The smoke can then be fanned around the area with the intention of also cleansing it before the marriage takes place.

The couple and their guests may feel a sense of leaving behind any troubles and beginning something new and the couple may like the Celebrant to say a few words about the significance of the smoking. There is no specific wording, but it is important to ask the couple what it means to them.

Another option is using a ‘Smudge stick’ (pictured left) which is a bundle of dried herbs, (quite often white sage and incorporating some other herbs or spices such as lavender and juniper, which give a pleasant odour when burnt). These are then bound into a small bundle with string and dried to later be used for the wedding ceremony. The ‘Smoking’ is conducted in much the same way as outlined above, however the celebrant may walk around the area spreading the smoke and wave the stick around the couple in order to cover them. Again the couple may like the celebrant to say a few words about the significance.

Conducting a traditional ‘Smoking’ is a great way of incorporating ritual in ceremony and regardless of your background or heritage, it’s significance crosses all boundaries of race or religion. If you are conducting a wedding ceremony in Australia or you are a bride or groom considering using a smoking as part of your ceremony, you may also like to begin the ceremony by paying tribute to the traditional owners of the land you are standing on. What a great way to enter your married life, with good luck, health and a clean slate. Only good can come of it!

Note: Smudge sticks can usually be purchased from stores that supply religious or ceremonial items or they can be made easily using fresh herbs. There are lots of instructional videos available on the internet.


The Wedding Gurus

Hens Night Purse Game

This game rewards the Hens Night party girl who arrives at the party with the most items in her purse as pre-listed below. Have each person hold their purses. One person is the "announcer" & will begin calling out items that are usually found in a purse, for every item the person has they receive the amount of points assigned to that item. The caller keeps a tally for each person & the one with the most point wins.

Here is a list to start with. You can add to the list if you want. (Item – Points)

• Credit Card – 1 point
• Boyfriend/Husband’s Credit card – 10 points
• Ex-boyfriend’s phone number – 10 points
• Spare pair of underwear – 20 points
• A receipt for shoes that you purchased – 20 points
• An appointment card for a manicure, pedicure or massage – 20 points
• Toothbrush – 5 points
• Picture of boyfriend/husband – 5 points
• Bottle opener – 10 points
• Mobile phone – 5 points
• Headphones – 5 points
• Hair brush – 5 points
• Hair tie – 5 points
• Feminine products – 10 points
• Camera – 5 points
• PMS Medication – 15 points
• Alcoholic beverage – 20 points
• Lipstick of a shade you aren’t wearing – 10 points
• Eye shadow – 10 points
• Eyeliner – 10 points
• Condom – 10 points
• Little black book – 10 points
• Panadol – 10 points
• Chewing gum – 10 points
• A pen of a colour other than blue or black – 10 points
• Sunglasses – 10 points

Find more fun hens night games here!

Week 5 - Handfasting Ceremony

Welcome to week 5 of our '52 traditions / rituals in 52 week' this week we are bringing to you a demonstration of a 'Handfasting Ceremony'. The handfasting is a tradition which involves the tying or binding of the right hands of the bride and groom with a ribbon or similar for the duration of the wedding ceremony. It has many origins and has been used in dozens of different cultures all with a similar significance, but with different wording and where the binding is done at different times during the ceremony.

We hope you enjoy this hand fasting ritual

You can find the Handfasting Wording by clicking here

Wedding Shoe Happiness

We couldn’t resist compiling some of our favourite wedding shoes to share with our loyal readers. We know you will agree these shoes are what girls dream of and the perfect complement to any dress. Enjoy!

Every bride should have a pair of flats awaiting them at the reception for when those heels become unbearable - what do you think?

The Wedding Guru's
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Please note: These photographs have been compiled from numerous sources including Facebook posts and other web pages. These photographs are not the property of The Wedding Guru's. If you would like any information on contacting the owner of a particular photograph we would be happy to assist.

The History of Valentines Day

Every year, the fourteenth day of February sees all of us, no matter what age or sex, scurrying about organising surprises, no matter how big or small and presenting our loved ones with flowers, chocolates and whatever other treat or gift we can think of to show our love.

Every table in every good restaurant is usually taken well in advance and God help the poor boyfriend, husband or fiancée who didn’t get a chance to shop!

While we give cards and gifts and hope we have someone care enough about us to leave a little surprise the history of St Valentines day is actually very sweet and deserves some recognition.

Valentines day, some say, originates from a bishop named Valentine, who was stationed in the Roman Empire. At that time the Emperor was Claudius II, who took it upon himself to decide that men who were not yet married actually made better soldiers than did the ones with wives and families.

It was this belief that brought about his decision to make it a rule of law that young men could not marry. Such an outrageous decision caused distress for so many young men and their sweethearts that round 270 A.D., it was bishop Valentine who took great pity on these poor and lonely soldiers who were pining for their loves and he began performing secret marriages against the ruling of the Emperor.

Once the secret marriages were found out Claudius II was enraged and jailed Valentine. While imprisoned Claudius II began his attempts to convert Valentine insisting that he worship only the Roman Gods, but Valentine refused and Instead, he began his own campaign to convert Claudius to Christianity.

Valentine was sentenced to be executed on February 24, 270.

There is also another version of the history of Valentines Day which tells a more romantic side to the story (which we all love of course!)

While imprisoned, Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s daughter. Just before his death, he sent his beloved a note telling her of his love and at the end the signature read “from your Valentine.” With the tale of deceit, romance and death, those who knew the story began to talk of the demise of Valentine and over time his fame was far reaching.

Bishop Valentine, having not only sacrificed his own life to help the young couples in love, also overcame the reality of his predicament to fall in love with his executioners daughter, became what a “Patron Saint” of love.  As time passed his legend lived on and many considered him the patron or spiritual overseer of an annual festival held on the 14^th of February, in which young couples would give cards of love and affection to those they were not only already in love with, but to those they wished to date.

There are even Valentine cards in museums worldwide that date back to 1415.

we will leave you on this day of celebrating the uniqueness and beauty of love with this:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments.

Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:
0, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Top 3 Wedding Hairstyles 2012

The Updo Bun:                                                                                         

                         

The updo bun I think is one of the classiest looks of all time and my top wedding hairstyle pick for 2012. Whether you finish the bun with a diamante band, with a plait or a hairpiece you cannot fail this sleek and stunning look.

Plaits & Braids:                                                                                       

I predict plaits and braids to be the up and coming look for brides in 2012. Whether you are planning a high bun, low bun, sleek or messy look they are a simple and romantically beautiful addition to complete any hairstyle. 

Loose Curls:                                                                                               

 

Loose and curly hair is the relaxed, beautiful and romantic look for 2012.Whether your hair is long or short this feminine and elegant hairstyle will compliment any wedding dress. 

Week 4 – The Giving of the Bride

Welcome to ritual number 4 in our ‘52 Rituals/Traditions in 52 weeks’

We’re pretty sure that all of you would be familiar with this one, but even though you’ve probably seen it done at most wedding ceremonies you have attended, you might be surprised by how many variations there can be to this common tradition.

The Giving Away of the bride has a long history. Nowadays we often like to make it the perfect occasion when the father- daughter relationship is acknowledged. It also allows the families and friends of the bride and groom show their approval of the marriage. In Roman times though, it was the custom for a young woman to be under the authority and protection of the man who was the head of her household — this would usually have been her father or elder brother.

When she married, the responsibility that was theirs, then passed to her husband. This was the origin of the “Giving away” ceremony. Clearly times certainly have changed but we retain this ancient custom with a somewhat new cultural meaning and that is to honour the role of the father and allow the family and friends to clearly show their support.

Some examples of possible wording for the Giving of the Bride:

1. Celebrant/Priest addresses person giving bride away: Who brings this woman to be married to this man?

Person replies: I do (He then steps forward and joins the other guests.)

            2. If both parents are involved, the Celebrant/Priest addresses the guests as follows: Who brings this man to stand beside this woman?

Groom’s Parents We do

The question is repeated for the bride’s parents: Are you willing now and always to support and strengthen this marriage by upholding both Lindsay and Lisa with your love and support?

All parents: We are

            3. When the father is the giving the bride away, the Celebrant/Priest says: When thinking people conclude what are the real values in life, and come to decide what really matters — it is human relationships.
One of the most understated but deepest relationships in human life is that between the caring father and the loving daughter. One of the rare occasions this relationship is acknowledged is at a wedding ceremony. (Insert Father’s name) represents all of us, he particularly represents his family, but today in a special gesture he symbolises his own personal love for is daughter. So mindful of these values I now ask him,
— who brings this woman to be married to this man?
Father

I do