The wedding ring on the third finger of a girl's left hand symbolized engagement. At the ceremony, the bride wore white robes as a tribute to Hymen, the god of marriage and fertility and was accompanied by her bridesmaid.Medieval weddings were mostly arranged and among the nobility, they were more politics than love. The bride's appearance reflected directly on her family, so her ensemble was of rich colours and expensive garments of furs, velvet and silk, no expense spared.
Peasant brides on the other hand wore gowns in greens or blues dyed with woad. For the lower classes, the wedding was still a high occasion and they dressed as formally as money allowed. Humbler fabrics were used, but styles of the nobility were copied as much as possible.
In the 1300's the traditional wedding gown was the cotehardie or 'bold coat'. It was a close-fitting garment, laced in back or front, with long, tight sleeves, and a full slit in front to show the underdress, which also carried a train.
They were made with silk brocades and worn with a gold belt encrusted with jewels. The bride wore a ring representing eternal vows and true love; a brooch as token of her chastity; and a garland worn over loose, flowing hair for virtue.
In Latin, the female verb `nubo' or marry - means literally `I veil myself'. Hence, a bride was `nova nupta' and the wedding - nuptials. The bridal veil or `flammeum' was rectangular, transparent and worn off her face. Flame-coloured, it matched her shoes. In her hair, she wore a wreath of fragrant flowers. Her gown was a white flannel or muslin tunic with a `cingulum' or girdle. Around her waist she carried the `knot of Hercules' to ward off evil spirits and undoing this complicated knot was the groom's first order of business on the wedding night
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