Among early Germanic tribes, marriage customs involved a man capturing a bride from a neighboring village, accompanied by his strongest friend. After capturing his bride, the groom would place her on his left side for protection and go into hiding with her until a bride price was negotiated. The word "wedding" comes from an old English word meaning to gamble or wager, referring to the bride price paid by the groom. At Anglo-Saxon weddings, the groom had male attendants to help capture and escort the bride, while women assisted and accompanied the bride. Veils for brides originated from preventing the groom from seeing the bride until after the ceremony to discourage him from leaving her at the altar upon first sight.

1. Ah, Romance! Love was a tad different in the middle ages…

2. Ah, Romance… THE BEST MAN TRADITION Among the Germanic Goths of northern Europe in 200 A.D., a man usually married a woman from within his own community. However, when there were fewer women, the prospective bridegroom would capture his bride from a neighboring village. The bridegroom was accompanied by his strongest friend (or best friend), who helped him capture his bride.

3. Ah, Romance… The Bride on the Left After the bridegroom captured his bride, he placed her on his left to protect her, thus freeing his right hand or sword hand against sudden attack.

4. Ah, Romance… The Honeymoon After "kidnapping" his bride, the groom would take her and go into hiding. By the time the bride's family tracked them down them, the bride would probably already be pregnant. A "bride price" would then be negotiated.

5. Ah, Romance… "WEDDING" The Anglo-Saxon word "wedd" meant that the groom would vow to marry the woman, but it also referred to the bride price (money or barter) to be paid by the groom to the bride's father. The root of the word "wedding" literally means to gamble or wager.

6. Ah, Romance… Bridal Party In Anglo-Saxon times, the groom had the help of "bridesmen" or "brideknights" to help him capture and/or escort his bride. Later they would make sure that the bride got to the church and to the groom's home afterwards. The women who accompanied and assisted the bride were called or "bride’s women" "bridesmaids.”

7. Ah, Romance… "Bad Luck" For The Groom To See Bride Before The Ceremony Until relatively recently, brides were considered the property of their father. Their futures and husbands were arranged without their consent. The marriage of an unattractive woman was often arranged with a prospective groom from another town without either of them having ever seen their prospective spouse. In more than one instance, when the groom saw his future wife, usually dressed in white, for the first time on the day of the wedding, he changed his mind and left the bride at the altar. To prevent this from happening, it became "bad luck" for the groom to see the bride on the day of the wedding prior to the ceremony

8. Ah, Romance… THE WEDDING VEIL In early European history, with the advent of arranged marriages veils served another purpose - to prevent the groom from seeing the brides' face till after the ceremony was over. Brides began to wear opaque yellow veils. Not only could the groom not see in, the bride could not see out. Therefore, the father of the bride had to escort her down the aisle and literally give the bride to the groom. Another theory is that the veil is reminiscent of the act of throwing a sack over the prospective bride's head while she was being carried off.