Church bells ringing, the wedding march – weddings are a time of immense excitement not only for the couple tying the knot but those privileged enough to share in the day with them.

Over the years, the format for a church wedding has become almost set in stone – but for everything that happens at the wedding, there is a fascinating history behind.

Much of the events at your typical ‘white wedding’ as we call down here in Ghana, originated from Roman times and Victorian Britain.

In those days, life was much harder than it is now, and the cute traditions like walking down the aisle, having bridesmaids and groomsmen – all stem from our more barbaric and superstitious past.

READ ALSO: Why My Wife-to-Be-Elsie is Not Getting Any Honeymoon And She’s Not Even Mentioned It

The UK’s Bride magazine have an instructive article on how these traditions originated, and on the back of Chris-Vincent and Elsie’s wedding, we’ve compiled some of the more interesting ones here.

So read on to learn more about how mainstay modern wedding traditions such as throwing the bouquet, wearing a veil, and having a ‘storey building’ cake, originated – courtesy bridemagazine.co.uk.

The White Wedding Dress 

In the past, brides used to wear their most expensive dress on their wedding days. Until Queen Victoria in 1840, who wore a white dress for her marriage to Prince Albert because her it was the colour of her favourite lace. From then on, the Queen set the standard for future brides.