Natalie Waldens Weddings and Brides Pages

Engagement

The tradition of getting engaged goes back to when the "groom" use to choose a hard working girl, grab her and ride of with her before her father and family could stop him, from the fathers point of view this was hart breaking as he had spent good money and provision on bringing up a worker for the family and now it had been stolen.
Eventualy this changed to the father having the right to demand payment for his valuable asset and gave the "groom" a set period to pay, hence the engagement.
The ring arrived as part payment and to show that the "groom" was committed to the contract.		 Payment
The tradition of a woman proposing on 29th February goes back to when the 29th was not recognised as such, so was not bound by legal status, this loop hole was mainly used by women who felt they had been left on shelf for to long.

As part of the engagement celebration it is traditional for the bride to have bridal shower (does not involve water) this is where her friend gives her presents, usually house hold items, this goes back to the time when dowries where given to the man/groom by the father of the bride-to-be, however if he did not agree with the wedding he would withhold the dowry thus making his daughter less acceptable to the mans family. The Bride-to-be friends would collect gifts to make up the dowry on her behalf.
return to: cat.gif (1443 bytes)
.