Weird And Wonderful Wedding Facts
Weird traditions, incredible facts and surprising trends: we get the inside scoop on real weddings
Rain on your wedding day is actually considered good luck, according to Hindu tradition. That bodes well for weddings in the North East!
Rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was once thought that a vein in that finger led directly to the heart.
One of history's earliest engagement rings was given to Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII. She was two years old at the time.
Queen Victoria started the white wedding dress trend in 1840 – before then, brides simply wore their best dress.
The tradition of a wedding cake comes from ancient Rome, where a loaf of bread was broken over a bride's head to ensure fertility.
An old wives' tale dictates that if the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never landing a hubby.
Traditionally, the bride stands to the groom's left during a Christian ceremony, because once upon a time, the groom needed his right hand free to fight off other suitors.
Flower girls traditionally threw flower petals in the bride’s path to lead her to a sweet, plentiful future.
New research from One4All Gift Card shows the average wedding guest spends in excess of £400 on a wedding, with the wedding gift, the day itself, hotels, and hen or stag dos all amounting to a small fortune. Wow.
Queen Elizabeth II had 12 wedding cakes. The cake she cut at her ceremony was nine feet tall and weighed 500 pounds.
A 2006 study found that altruism leads to marital bliss. Participants were asked whether they agreed with the following statements: 'I'd rather suffer myself than let the one I love suffer' and 'I'm willing to sacrifice my own wishes to let the one I love achieve his or hers.' The study found that 67 percent of the more altruistic participants rated their own marriages as 'very happy', while only 50 percent of the less altruistic were very happy in their marriages. Best get those dishes washed!
Until 1912, if a woman in the UK committed a crime in her husband's presence, he was legally considered to have coerced her into doing it.
The largest ever wedding was a Jewish ceremony in Jerusalem in 1993, which 30,000 people attended.
52 the ideal number of songs on a playlist for a three-hour party.
189 the average head count at a wedding.
1,030 the number of flowers required to decorate the average church, including 10 pew ends, two main displays and an archway at the front of the church.
256,920 the average number of calories consumed by 120 guests during a typical wedding, according to The British Dietetic Association.
