Traditions and customs of bridesmaids as we know them today, probably originated with the Anglo Saxons who began a wedding with a "brides' woman" leading a company of young maidens or virgins around the time of 1066. These bridesmaids usually led the bridegroom to the church and the groomsmen led the bride. The tradition came about because groomsmen were the only ones truly capable of fighting off a rival who may want to kidnap her. A best man was one who had the true interests of the groom at heart and would lead the men in case they had to fight to keep the bride.
This tradition however can date back to old Roman law stipulating that there were to be 10 witnesses to the wedding, five men, and five women. This law was needed in order to outwit the evil spirits who were thought to attend and sabotage happy events. The bridesmaids had to dress like the bride and the grooms men had to dress like the groom in order to confuse Satan so he would not know who exactly was getting married.
There is a variety of superstitions surrounding bridesmaids. A bouquet is still thrown at weddings, but traditionally only the bridesmaids were allowed to catch it. If one caught it, she would be the next one to marry.
It was also considered very unlucky for a bridesmaid to stumble on her way to the altar, it meant she would die an old maid and never have true love. Therefore, most young women practiced the walk repeatedly so this misfortune would not befall them.
Another very unlucky thing would be if a young woman became a bridesmaid three times. If one had the horrible misfortune, she would be doomed to become a bridesmaid four more times before she could ever marry.
In Brittany, if a young girl was able to obtain all the pins from the brides dress, she would not only have a good marriage but many children and a kind husband. However is a bride got pricked by a pin it was considered a bad omen and bad luck.
Today most bridesmaids can wear any color to a wedding, but traditionally a bridesmaid could only wear light blue, yellow, or pink. These colors were considered as close to white a possible, thus complementing the bride more fully.
If you were a young unmarried girl at the wedding and you stashed a piece of wedding cake under your pillow you would dream about your future husband and your own wedding.
