Wondertales and Weddings: Stories of Love and Enchantment



Princess Badoura
by Warwick Goble, 1913

The month of June derives its name from Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage. In ancient times it was believed that couples who married in June would be blessed with prosperity and happiness.

This Friday I had the pleasure of attending a wedding and so my thoughts turned to love stories and one of my favorite memories, my son Christopher's wedding. In 2010 I had the amazing honor of sharing a love story at the church for his marriage to Stephanie; definitely my favorite storytelling moment.

Below I have compiled a list of  love stories from around the world, some end with the traditional "happily ever after" and others, not so much! This is by no means an exhaustive list but one that might help begin your journey down the aisle to a new storytelling program.

Insight behind some wedding traditions:

• Wedding bouquets were originally made of such strong herbs as thyme and garlic, which were meant to frighten away evil spirits.
• In ancient times, it was believed that a Bride was especially lucky on her wedding day. The Bride's tossing of her bouquet grew from her desire to offer a good luck souvenir.
• Early Brides and Bridesmaids wore similar dresses in order to confuse evil spirits.
• Placing a penny in the bride’s shoe is a European tradition to bring the Bride good luck, fortune, and protection against want.
• Prior to the 5th century, the ring finger was actually the index finger. Later, it was believed that the third finger contained the "vein of love" that led directly to the heart.
• By believing that newlyweds brought good luck, guests used to shower them with nuts and grains to insure a bountiful harvest, and many children to work the land. During years of a poor harvest, rice was tossed instead.
• During the days of the Roman Empire, wedding cakes were baked of wheat or barley. At the reception, they were traditionally broken over the head of the new Bride by the Groom as a symbol of her fertility. The above information and more may be found at: http://www.chicagomarriage.com/wedding_traditions.htm

STORIES

The Clever Girl – Italy

http://www.italiansrus.com/etexts/clevergirl.htm

The Girl Who Married a Snake – India
http://tinyurl.com/6uy9kqz

Dorani - Pakistan
https://storiestogrowby.org/story/dorani/

Green Willow - Japan
https://spiritoftrees.org/green-willow 

Greyfoot - Denmark
https://storiestogrowby.org/story/greyfoot/

The Glass Mountain – Poland
https://tinyurl.com/y38o2rlf 

How Frog Went to Heaven

http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/044.html

The Knell at the Wedding – United States
http://tinyurl.com/7a4udrj 

The Lute Player - Russia
http://learningtogive.org/materials/folktales/luteplayer.asp

Maid Maleen - German

http://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/maid_maleen

Marriage of Robin Redbreast and the Wren

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/sfft/sfft08.htm

The Pigeon's Bride - The Story of a Princess Who Kissed and Told – Yugoslavia

http://tinyurl.com/7oes8tx 

The Professional Wedding Guest - Kashmir

https://ikashmir.net/folktales2/24.html 

The Rat’s Wedding - India
http://www.amritsar.com/punjabtales/punjabitales.shtml

The Robber Bridegroom – German
https://tinyurl.com/y2mmwcwa

Specter Bridegrooms – A collection of folktales from around the world, courtesy of D.L. Ashliman.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0365.html

The Star Lovers - Japan
http://worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Japanese_folktale_37.html

The Story Spirits - Korea
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/060.html

The Three Fayes - Sweden

https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/three-fayes 

The Wedding Secret: The Tale of the Royal Bridegroom - China

https://storiestogrowby.org/story/royal-bridegroom/ 

The Werewolf’s Bride – United States
http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/the_werewolfs_bride.html

And if you need some more “love” head over to this blog post from 2010.

Tales of Love to Warm the Winter Nights 
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2010/01/tales-of-love-to-warm-winter-nights.html

BOOKS

Happily Ever After: Folktales That Illuminate Marriage and Commitment by Meliss Bunce.

https://www.amazon.com/Happily-Ever-After-Meliss-Bunce/dp/0874836743  

The Heart of the Wedding by Gerald Fierst.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781935166221&i=stripbooks&linkCode=qs

WEDDING TOASTS

Will you be offering a blessing or a toast at a wedding this year? Here is one of my favorites.

Irish Wedding Blessing

May the road rise to meet you and the

wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your

face, the rains fall soft upon your fields.

May the light of friendship guide your

paths together.

May the laughter of children grace your home.

May the joy of living for one another

trip a smile on your lips and twinkle in your eye.

And when eternity beckons at the end of

a life heaped high with love.

May the good Lord embrace you with

the arms that have nurtured you the

whole length of your joy filled days.

May the gracious God hold you in the

palm of his hands.

And today may the spirit of love find a

dwelling place in your hearts.

Additional toasts to help you make the moment memorable.

Wedding Toasts

http://quotations.about.com/cs/weddingtoasts/a/bls_wed_toasts.htm

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2012 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.