
Tying the Knot
The expression "tying the knot" actually dates back to Roman Times
when the bride wore a girdle secured by a knot. On the wedding night, the
groom then had the honors of "untying the knot." The couple's lives were
then tied together. Rituals of binding were also popular in ancient Carthage.
The couple's thumbs were laced together with a strip of leather. In India,
the Hindu groom knotted a ribbon around his bride's neck, and once tied,
the marriage was legal and binding. For much of history the rope was the
most powerful way to connect things and people. So, it made sense to talk
about "tying the knot."
Jumping The Broom
The most widely known African American wedding tradition is "jumping
the broom". According to Thony Anyiams, a Nigerian wedding fashion
designer, the tradition is an African one, used by enslaved Africans in
America as a way to maintain their ties to their culture and their homeland.
They jumped the broom because that is the way weddings were ritualized
in their African homeland.
What is jumping the broom? Simply, it is a ceremony in which the bride
and groom, either at the ceremony or reception, signify their entrance
into a new life and their creation of a new family by symbolically “sweeping
away” their former single lives, former problems and concerns, and stepping
over the broom to enter upon a new adventure as husband and wife.
Sawhorsing
Sawhorsing is an Italian tradition. The people in the village would
set up a sawhorse, a log and a double handle saw. The newlyweds must saw
the log apart with the prompting and cheering of the crowd. When the job
is finished and the log cut, it symbolized that the man and woman must
work together in all of life's tasks.
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