Search icon

Wedding

10th Aug 2019

This is the bizarre reason brides stand on the left during wedding ceremonies

Keeley Ryan

Well, OK then.

There are about a thousand and one wedding traditions that couples can choose to follow on their wedding day – and it can get kind of overwhelming.

Some of the traditions’ popularity have faded over time, while others have only gained more and more popularity.

And then there are the ones that couples just ‘do’ because…well, that’s the way things always seem to be and they haven’t given it much thought otherwise.

One of them being, of course, where the bride and groom actually stand when they are at the altar.

Usually, the bride is on the left – and the groom stands on the right side.

It turns out that there’s a very, very specific reason for this…and it’s not romantic in the slightest bit.

According to The Knot, the tradition comes from the days of “marriage by capture” – which, yes, is just as grim as it sounds.

Apparently, the groom needed to leave his right hand – otherwise known as his fighting hand (which he used to hold the sword) – free, in case he needed to keep away any other would-be suitors who were trying to whisk his bride away.

Not exactly a fairytale kind of wedding, is it?