ANCIENT NORSE SOCIETY

The juridical procedure in Norse society was complicated, but three ceremonial actions seem to have been necessary to make the
marriage complete:

Engagement, which meant that the man and the woman were promised to each other. This was part of the deal, and economic
compensation was necessary if one side wanted to break the engagement.

Wedding, where the bride was formally given to the bridegroom by her guardian, usually her father. This was done at a feast in the
bridegroom's home. "I give thee my daughter" was the formula spoken by the guardian.

Bedding, where the couple went to bed together in the presence of witnesses. This was not a pornographic show. The witnesses left
before any sexual action began. But the fact that the couple had gone to bed together was firmly established.

With Christianity came a different perspective. Marriage was now a sacrament, instituted by God and therefore something
that concerned both church and society outside the two families. Mutual consent was demanded, and the husband was expected to
be faithful. These were new ideas.
 
 

Medieval wedding ceremonies

The first part of the ceremony took place outside the church door. At cathedrals with several entrances, there was usually a
designated "bridal door" for this. The actions done there corresponded to the functions of the old germanic ceremony. Even though it
was now led by a priest, it was essentially a secular act by which the union of the families was confirmed.

When people had arrived at the church door, the men were placed on the right side and the women on the left. If the bride was a
virgin, her hands were bare. If she was a widow, she wore gloves. In some countries the most important parts were conducted in the
vernacular, in others everything was in Latin. In the latter case, the priest would read the words that the bride and bridegroom were
supposed to repeat.

The ceremony at the church door began with the mutual consent of the man and the woman. The priest asked the man if he would
take the woman for his wife. The man replied "Yes", and then turned to the woman and said: "I take thee, N. now to be my wife, in the
name of the Lord". The same was then repeated for the woman.

Next, the priest blessed the ring. Only one ring was used, given by the man to the woman. The ring was sprinkled with holy water,
the bridegroom took the ring and moved it so that it came to be placed in turn on the bride's thumb, index finger and long finger -
where it stayed. This was accompanied by the priest (or the bridegroom) saying: "In the name of the Father - and the Son - and the
Holy Spirit". Non-Scandinavian rituals have different wordings and movements, where the ring would end on what we call the ring
finger.

Now the priest would bless the couple, after which the whole party moved into the church. According to some rituals, the couple
held burning candles in their hands during the procession.

Inside, a "bridal mass" was celebrated. It consisted of prayers, hymns, bible reading, antiphonals, and culminated in the solemn
bridal benediction. The couple kneeled at the altar and a fine piece of cloth (called a "paell" in Swedish) was held over them by four
unmarried people. The blessing of the bride included many words from the Old Testament, particularly the apocryphic book of
Tobias. It included wishes that she should be good to her husband like Rachel, wise like Rebecca, and faithful like Sarah. Let her be
fertile, chaste and innocent, and let them both live to see their offspring to the third and fourth generation. The bridal benediction is
very old - the first known example is from the 5th century.

After this benediction a mass (communion) followed. The ritual kissing of the bride belongs here, at the moment of the kiss of peace.
The priest kissed the bridegroom, who kissed the bride, and then the bride passed the kiss on to the women while an assistant cleric
brought it from the priest to the male side of the church (of course the men were on the south side and the women on the north side in
the nave).

Interestingly enough, the formula "I now pronounce you man and wife" was not used everywhere. It occurs in late period German
and French rituals, but there is evidence that in older times, the priest left the confirmation of the marriage to God: "May the God of
Abraham, Isac and Jacob unite youI"

Afterwards, in the evening, there was the bedding. The Church adopted this pagan custom and converted it from a juridical act into
a blessing of the matrimonial bed.

Remember also that medieval wedding gowns were usually not white : )
 

Later:
 
 
 

From the Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir: The betrothal was the big thing, with the actual nuptials merely a followup.

During the 12th century,the average couple would have any ceremony that felt right to them and their families (usually the declaration of dower, or a reading of the betrothal or nuptial agrement), even to the almost-legendary jumping over a broomstick, followed by a mass, and of course by a party is simply not so. What they did had to satisfiy the Church's requirements of the time, and in particular, had to satisfy the Church's witnessthat the requirement of serious present intent was fulfilled.

Tradition plays a tremendous role in setting ceremony; and in the middle ages, there is every evidence that it did so more, since religious conformity (denial of which is the basis for a huge percentage of modern variations) was the overwhelming rule.

Finally, the SCA normally assumes that its members are upper class. In the High Middle Ages, there are upper class Jews and Muslims as well as Christians in parts of Europe at various times. One might on rare occasion even find someone who professed himself openly to be atheist. But by that point, there are no openly admitted upper class pagans in Europe.

In early Saxon days and through the 18th century, it was the poorer bride who came to her wedding dressed in a plain white robe. This was in the nature of a public statement that she brought nothing with her to her marriage and that therefore her husband was
not responsible for her debts.

Colors used for wedding dresses reflected the values that were ascribed to certain colors. Blue was used to show constancy. Green was an indicator of youth. A blue ribbon on the shoulder symbolized purity, fidelity and love.

Two colors not used much in medieval wedding gowns were yellow and gold, the first because it symbolized jeolousy and the second because it symbolized avarice.