It's no secret that brides carry bouquets down the aisle; it's an old tradition, which depending on what source you read was done to ward off evil spirits, signify fertility, enhance the perfume of the ceremony, improve the visual appeal of the approaching bride, or symbolise a variety of virtues through the very Victorian 'language of flowers'. Modern brides can probably relate to all those reasons, and I suspect those bouquets also provide something for nervous quaking hands to hold on to.In the 30 days of gratitude photo challenge I've been participating in, today's 'thing' to be grateful for and photograph was "something old" which is appropriate given that in Australia, and many other places around the world, it is Remembrance Day where we honor our ancestors who fought for what they believed in.
My 'something old' was a brooch and sprig of heather which were my maternal and paternal grandmothers respectively. I pinned them to the ribbon-sheathed stems of my wedding bouquet, and as I walked into the church, my eyes darting from future-Happy-Husband to all the smiling faces I knew, including my mother's, I remember clearly feeling as if my grandmothers were there with me, as if by carrying these old artifacts that had been held and treasured by them well before I was born, perhaps even before my mother was born, I was inviting them onto the journey I was taking into the future, just as they had been an integral part of the journeys I had taken up to that point.
Thank you to my predecessors; thank you for all that you have done, been, and bequested me in terms of my skills, ideas, attitudes, and looks, whether I have met you or not; I have not forgotten you. x
PS - contrary to modern wedding bouquet etiquette that involves tossing the flowers into the air; I gave my flowers to my mother to take home and enjoy.
