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Why we throw rice at weddings

siiky

2023/02/26

So here I was transcribing the excerpts I highlighted from "The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" when this bit showed up:

Our young men and women marry, and we kiss them and congratulate them; and, standing on the doorstep, throw rice and old slippers, (...)

../wiki/book.jerome_klapka_jerome.seconds_thoughts_idle_fellow.gmi

I highlighted this excerpt, for sure, because I don't know why, and because I was surprised they did it too in 1898. Here's the answer (maybe):

Michelle M. Winner, "Why Do People Throw Rice at Weddings?"

The rice toss is a symbolic wish to the just-married couple for a life of prosperity and fruitfulness, which to the ancients meant many children. As a blessing, guests shower the couple with rice as they exit the ceremony.

So it's not new, here's more:

The history and the tradition of showering newlyweds at a wedding with rice, seed, and grains predate Christianity. The Celts, mighty warriors, were also an agronomist culture who tossed rice, millet, and other grains to appease spirits and ask for blessing and fertility for the couple. Ancient Romans used wheat. Italians toss candies or sugared nuts. The Polish use rice but also place coins at the couple's feet to ensure prosperity. In Morocco, it's dried dates or figs and Eastern India's tradition is a rain of flower petals.

The rest of the page is a bit of bull so you can ignore it... But I checked another couple of pages and both said kind of the same thing (hopefully the authors didn't just copy from each other to pass their pages as fact-checked).