Wedding Traditions

Year 8-Day 162: Today, I am grateful for wedding traditions.

It is June. June is one of the most popular months for new marriages to begin. Every wedding has it's special and unique moments. It is a day for making new beginnings and new promises. Every generation and subculture has popular traditions and music. A marriage ceremony reflects a couple and the promises made before God, family and friends. It is the most special of days. 

One of my favorite newer traditions is foot-washing. I always think of foot-washing as a Holy Week tradition, as it has been for our family. But, recently I've seen it in the marriage ceremony. What a perfect place to share the humble and loving act of washing another's feet. 

There are other wedding traditions like "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue." The throwing of the garter and bouquet are traditions, too. Some will carry a family bible, a grandmother's handkerchief or a grandfather's watch. Why? Because our traditions connect us to previous generations. It is more than sentiment, it deepens the meaning of the day.

In Jesus's day, they shared wine at weddings. The groom and his family hosted the wedding feast. They would serve the best wines first, and then they would serve lesser wines later in the celebration, because at that point, no one really noticed. 

"When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.  -John 2:9-11

It was Jesus's first very public miracle, although he tried to do it privately. He was responding to his mother's concern. He was honoring her and wedding traditions. 

Washing feet, shared wine, wedding feasts, exchanging rings and other traditions are important because they unite us in celebration. We can learn from each other and we pass traditions from one generation to the next. They help us connect and reconnect with each celebration.

Today, I am grateful for wedding traditions.