Wedding traditions that seem made up
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Wedding Traditions That Seem Made Up — Daily trivia Friday, May 22, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01What is the 'something old' in the wedding rhyme traditionally said to provide?
- AA dowry for the groom's family
- BOptimism for the future
- CProtection for the baby to come
- DGood luck from a happy couple
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Protection for the baby to come
Folklore says something old offers protection for the baby to come; the rhyme is younger than it feels, first recorded in 1871, with the full Lancashire version in an 1876 newspaper.
Q 02What did Robert May's recipe for the English 'bride's pie' hide in a compartment to entertain guests?
- AGold coins
- BLive birds or a snake
- CA written blessing
- DSugared almonds
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Live birds or a snake
Live birds or a snake waited in one compartment; the rest held oysters, lamb testicles and cocks' combs, and a glass ring inside marked the next woman to marry, a forerunner of the bouquet toss.
Q 03Which monarch popularised the white wedding dress in the West after wearing one at her own wedding?
- AQueen Elizabeth I
- BQueen Victoria
- CQueen Marie Antoinette
- DEmpress Catherine the Great
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Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria wore white satin with a deep flounce of Honiton lace in 1840, a boost to Devon lace-making; before then brides wore blue, yellow or even black.
Q 04Tying tin cans to newlyweds' cars is thought to descend from which pot-banging mock-serenade custom?
- ACharivari, or shivaree
- BWassailing
- CMummers' parade
- DMorris dancing
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Charivari, or shivaree
Charivari, or shivaree, was a noisy mock serenade of banging pots and pans, often staged to shame couples a village disapproved of, such as widows who remarried too soon.
Q 05The flammeum, the veil that dominated a Roman bride's outfit, was what colour?
- AWhite
- BCrimson
- CPurple
- DDeep yellow
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Deep yellow
The flammeum's deep yellow echoed the veil of the Flaminica Dialis, wife of Jupiter's high priest, whose marriage could never be dissolved, so it was a good omen for fidelity.
Q 06The Roman patrician marriage rite 'confarreatio' was named for a shared cake made from what?
- AChestnut flour
- BHoney and figs
- CBarley
- DEmmer wheat
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Emmer wheat
Confarreatio's cake was made of emmer wheat, far in Latin; the rite needed ten witnesses, and only children of such marriages could become Vestal Virgins.
Q 07In later Scottish tradition, handfasting was associated with what kind of union?
- AA cousin marriage
- BA widow's remarriage
- CA trial marriage
- DA dowry-free marriage
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A trial marriage
Some Highland accounts describe handfasting as a trial marriage lasting a year and a day, though historians dispute the custom; the word presumably comes from Old Norse handfesta, 'to strike a bargain by joining hands'.
Q 08Folklore says bridesmaids once dressed exactly like the bride for what purpose?
- ATo symbolize unity between the wedding party and the couple
- BTo confuse evil spirits or jealous ex-lovers who might try to harm the newlyweds
- CTo make the wedding photos more aesthetically pleasing
- DTo ensure all members of the wedding party adhered to a dress code
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To confuse evil spirits or jealous ex-lovers who might try to harm the newlyweds
Folklore holds that bridesmaids wore the bride's exact dress and heavy veils to confuse evil spirits or jealous ex-lovers who might try to harm the newlyweds.
Q 09Which item in the traditional English bridal rhyme was said to symbolise prosperity?
- ASomething old
- BSomething new
- CA silver sixpence in her shoe
- DSomething borrowed
Show answer
A silver sixpence in her shoe
A silver sixpence in her shoe, a later Victorian addition worn in the left shoe, stood for prosperity or warded off harm from frustrated suitors.
Q 10Which African-American wedding tradition originated to solemnise marriages denied legal status under slavery?
- AJumping the broom
- BThe unity candle
- CHandfasting
- DBreaking of the glass
Show answer
Jumping the broom
Jumping the broom took hold among enslaved African Americans in the antebellum South, whose marriages had no legal standing, and the 1970s novel and miniseries Roots revived it.
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