More Weddings are Going Green
Jun 02
More couples are choosing to make their weddings organic and eco-friendly wedding dresses are the show piece.
Los Angeles-based designer Deborah Lindquist whose hemp-silk wedding dress was recently featured in a USA Today article about hemp had this to say about the new trend.
“So many designers that you see use the hemp fabrics have been more into jeans, t-shirts and yoga wear, in the past, the styles have been more granola-based.”
Lindquist who has dressed stars such as Charlize Theron and Sarah Jessica Parker says her intent is to, “save the planet with clothing, one bustier at a time”
Read Vowing to be Green in the June issue of of CommonGround or at commongroundmag.com.
History Trivia for non-Dummies Blog
Why Grooms Carry Brides across the Threshold
The historical tradition of a groom carrying his bride across the threshold is over 3,000 years old.
It is based on the Rape of the Sabine Women. When you go back this far in history it can become hard to tell myth from history, but the story is an ancient one whose tradition has carried down to the present day.
As newly founded Rome grew in size, its founder Romulus discovered that he had many men but very few women, and that the male population of immigrants to the city was growing rapidly. The Sabines were a people who lived near Rome. They refused to let their daughters intermarry with Romans.
Romulus invited the Sabines to attend games in honor of Neptune in Rome. When they did, bringing their daughters with them, the Romans carried off the young Sabine women, on a pre-arranged signal given by Romulus.
A war between the Sabines and the Romans began. In order to stop the war that began over them the young, kidnapped women intervened. They convinced their Sabine fathers to cease their attack and allow their marriages to the Romans.
The Sabine women attached several conditions to their agreement to marry the Roman men, however. The most noteworthy was that the Roman husband had to carry his Sabine bride across the threshold of their new home.
The ritual was to symbolize that initially the Sabine women were forcibly taken by the Roman men against their will into their homes.
That is the historical reason why bridegrooms still carry their brides across the threshold today. The ritual still takes place after our modern weddings, though most people don’t know why they do it. Now you know why.
Source: History of Rome, Livy