50 Fun Facts About Bridal Shower

Which queen's satin gown, trimmed with Honiton lace, set the fashion for brides to marry in white?

Queen Victoria married in white in 1840, and the Honiton lace she showed off gave Devon's lacemakers a welcome boost. Before her era a bride wore any colour, and black was popular in Finland.

In the rhyme that begins 'Something old, something new', which coin goes in the bride's shoe?

A sixpence, a British silver coin, stands for prosperity and belongs in the left shoe. The line was a late addition to a rhyme whose opening words were first printed in 1871.

An Irish tradition tied to Saint Bridget and Saint Patrick lets women propose to men on which date?

February 29 is known in Ireland as Bachelor's Day or Ladies' Privilege. In parts of Europe, a man who turned down a leap-day proposal was expected to buy the woman twelve pairs of gloves.

Which Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth gives her name to the month of June?

Juno is the Roman counterpart of the Greek Hera, and her sacred bird is the peafowl. The writer Plutarch implied that her whole month was a luckier time for a wedding than May.

In 1801, Aaron Burr's daughter Theodosia became the first recorded honeymooner at which landmark?

Niagara Falls drew Theodosia Burr Alston and her husband Joseph in 1801. After the Civil War a railroad sold the trip to honeymooners, and visits jumped again when Marilyn Monroe's film Niagara came out in 1953.

Which pop star's 2004 Las Vegas marriage to a childhood friend was annulled just 55 hours later?

Britney Spears wed her friend at A Little White Wedding Chapel in January 2004. The petition that ended it said she 'lacked understanding of her actions'.

Which singer's hit 'Ironic' lists a rainy wedding day among life's cruel little twists?

Alanis Morissette wrote the song with producer Glen Ballard for her album Jagged Little Pill. It was the fourth single released from the record.

In Friends, whose name does Ross say by mistake in his London wedding vows to Emily?

Rachel is the name Ross blurts out at the altar. The registrar asks Emily whether he should carry on, and the season ends on that cliffhanger.

Which bridal designer was a competitive figure skater and a Vogue editor before opening her salon?

Vera Wang took up skating at eight and joined Vogue straight from college as its youngest editor. She opened her salon in New York's Carlyle Hotel in 1990 and later dressed Olympic skaters.

In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which household spray is the comic cure-all for every skin complaint?

Windex is promoted in the film as a folk remedy for everything from pimples to warts. The glass cleaner, introduced in 1933, takes its name from 'window' plus '-ex'.

The bridal 'shower' may be named for gifts tumbling onto the bride-to-be from which opened accessory?

A parasol is said to have been packed with small presents, so that opening it rained them on the guest of honour. In the United States the parties first caught on in cities in the 1890s.

In Australia and New Zealand, which afternoon party traditionally stood in for the bridal shower?

A kitchen tea gathered female friends and relatives at the bride's family home, where they gave her presents for cooking and housekeeping. American-style showers have since gained ground on it.

At a medieval English 'bruydale', a feast held before the wedding, what did the bride make and sell?

Beer brewed by the bride was sold to her guests at a high price. William Langland mentions such a 'bruydale' in his poem Piers Plowman.

Which Canadian pre-wedding party sells tickets and runs raffles to raise money for the engaged couple?

A stag and doe, also called a jack and jill or a buck and doe, funds the couple's wedding or honeymoon. In Manitoba the same party is often called a social.

Which Chicago department store started the first bridal gift registry in 1924?

Marshall Field's let an engaged couple record their chosen patterns for family and friends to buy. Target took the idea electronic in 1993 with the first self-service gift registry.

Which mouthwash brand's American ads warned that bad breath could keep a bridesmaid from ever becoming a bride?

Listerine ran the campaign to suggest that fresher breath could improve a woman's chances of marriage. The saying it borrowed traces to a 1917 English music-hall song.

Which title goes to a married woman serving as the bride's chief attendant and official witness?

Matron of honor is the married counterpart of the maid of honor. In the United States, typically only she and the best man are counted as official witnesses for the wedding license.

What do Americans call a bride-to-be's box of saved linens, a glory box to Australians?

A hope chest, also known as a cedar chest, held clothing and household linen collected ahead of a wedding. The British name for the same custom is the bottom drawer.

The title 'Mrs.' began as a contraction of which word, once used for married and unmarried women?

Mistress was the feminine form of Mister or Master, an honorific of the upper class that said nothing about whether a woman had a husband.

Which material marks a first wedding anniversary, with wood for the fifth and tin for the tenth?

Paper opens the traditional list. Pairing anniversaries with precious metals, silver for 25 years and gold for 50, has been documented in Germanic countries since the 1500s.

Which Saturday Night Live star co-wrote Bridesmaids and plays its hapless heroine Annie?

Kristen Wiig wrote the script with Annie Mumolo, and the pair were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Maya Rudolph plays Lillian, the lifelong friend who is getting married.

Which Grey's Anatomy star plays perpetual bridesmaid Jane Nichols in the romantic comedy 27 Dresses?

Katherine Heigl's Jane has been a bridesmaid 27 times. Her turning point comes when her younger sister Tess becomes engaged to George, the boss Jane secretly loves.

Which actress plays Maggie Carpenter, who has left three fiancés at the altar, in Runaway Bride?

Julia Roberts stars opposite Richard Gere, who plays a reporter writing a story about her. The film reunited the two stars with the director of Pretty Woman for the first time since that hit.

Which comedian plays flustered dad George Banks in the 1991 remake of Father of the Bride?

Steve Martin stars opposite Diane Keaton, with Kimberly Williams making her film debut as the daughter getting married. The family hires an eccentric wedding coordinator named Franck Eggelhoffer.

Which Asian country shares the Spanish wedding custom of 'las arras', coins the groom gives the bride?

In the Philippines the coins arrive in an ornate basket or pouch rather than a box. Blessed by a priest, they stand for the groom's promise to provide for his family.

In the 1989 film Steel Magnolias, a red velvet groom's cake is famously shaped like which animal?

An armadillo, giant and baked in red velvet, gives the film one of its best-known scenes. A Southern groom's cake was traditionally a fruitcake soaked in dark liquor.

The TLC series Say Yes to the Dress follows brides shopping at which Manhattan bridal salon?

Kleinfeld Bridal is where every episode unfolds, and gowns by its exclusive designer Pnina Tornai often test a bride's budget.

Which pop group's hits drive Mamma Mia!, in which bride-to-be Sophie invites three possible fathers?

ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus composed the film's score. Sophie secretly invites an architect, a travel writer and a banker, any of whom could be her dad.

In Crazy Rich Asians, Nick Young takes his girlfriend to which country for his best friend's wedding?

Singapore is home to Nick's family. The film was the first from a major Hollywood studio with a majority cast of Chinese descent in a modern setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993.

Which singer first recorded the wedding standard 'Can't Help Falling in Love' for the film Blue Hawaii?

Elvis Presley recorded it for the 1961 soundtrack album. Its melody is based on 'Plaisir d'amour', a French love song composed in 1784.

What did William Shakespeare leave to his wife, Anne, in the most famous bequest of his will?

His second-best bed, 'with the furniture', was written in between the lines of the will. Whether the gift was a snub or a tender gesture has been the source of various speculations.

Which singer's 'Marry You', about a spur-of-the-moment wedding, became a go-to proposal song?

Bruno Mars said the song began with him just playing the chords and freestyling its title line. It has been used for marriage proposals ever since its release.

Christina Perri wrote the ballad 'A Thousand Years' for a 2011 chapter of which blockbuster film saga?

Twilight gave the song its subject: Perri and her producer wrote it about the love affair between Bella and Edward. She re-recorded it for the sequel with a guest vocalist.

Which composer wrote his famous 'Wedding March' as music for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Felix Mendelssohn wrote it in 1842. It caught on at weddings after a British princess chose it for her marriage to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858.

Which country star proposed to June Carter on stage during a 1968 concert in London, Ontario?

Johnny Cash asked her in front of the crowd at the London Gardens, and the couple married in Franklin, Kentucky, a week later.

Which baseball legend had red roses delivered to Marilyn Monroe's crypt three times a week for 20 years?

Joe DiMaggio sent half a dozen each time. He and Monroe had eloped at San Francisco City Hall in January 1954 after dating for two years.

Which film star married Richard Burton twice, the second time in Botswana after a first divorce?

Elizabeth Taylor was married eight times to seven men. She and Burton divorced in June 1974, reconciled, and wed again at Kasane in October 1975.

Which Hollywood star's 1956 royal wedding dress was a gift from her studio, MGM?

Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in a gown by MGM costume designer Helen Rose, who looked to costumes in the studio's archives for inspiration.

In which city did John Lennon and Yoko Ono honeymoon in bed with the world's press invited?

Amsterdam hosted the couple's first bed-in: a week in the presidential suite of the Hilton, with reporters welcome from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.

Which netting, used for bridal veils and ballet tutus, takes its name from a small French town?

Tulle is named after a town in the southern central region of France. The netting suits a veil because it obscures the face while still letting the wearer see out.

In which Scottish village did runaway English couples famously marry over a blacksmith's anvil?

Gretna Green was often the first village that eloping couples reached after England tightened its marriage law in 1754. Its blacksmiths became known as 'anvil priests'.

Which country calls its carved wooden lovespoon, once a suitor's courting gift, a llwy garu?

Wales has carved lovespoons since at least the seventeenth century. The earliest dated Welsh example, from 1667, is displayed at the St Fagans National History Museum near Cardiff.

Sarah Burton designed Catherine Middleton's wedding dress as creative director of which fashion house?

Alexander McQueen's team had lace motifs appliquéd onto silk net by workers from the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace. The train ran just under three metres.

What did Britain's future queen need in 1947, besides money, to buy fabric for her wedding dress?

Ration coupons were still required under post-war austerity, and the government allowed her 200 extra. Brides-to-be across the country sent her their own, which had to be returned.

Which New York jeweler popularized the solitaire engagement ring in 1886 with its six-prong setting?

Tiffany & Co. trademarked the six-claw design as the 'Tiffany setting'. Lifting a single stone on prongs became the most common way to set an engagement ring.

The carat, the unit used to weigh diamonds, takes its name from the Greek word for which seed?

Carob seeds were long used to weigh jewellery because people believed they varied little in mass. The word reached English by way of Arabic and Italian.

The Irish Claddagh ring shows two hands clasping a heart topped by which symbol of loyalty?

A crown stands for loyalty, while the heart represents love and the two clasped hands friendship.

By an old British superstition, where did a young woman put wedding cake to dream of her future husband?

Under her pillow was the place, a custom recorded from at least the 18th century. Some bridesmaids first passed the piece through the bride's wedding ring.

Which Charles Dickens character, jilted at the altar, wears her wedding dress for the rest of her life?

Miss Havisham of Great Expectations never removes the dress, wears only one shoe, and leaves the wedding breakfast and cake uneaten on the table at Satis House.

Which American soap opera drew 30 million viewers in 1981 for the wedding of Luke and Laura?

General Hospital had been close to cancellation only three years earlier. The wedding became the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history.