History & Tradition

If you think planning one wedding is a lot of work for one lifetime, try 9,000 weddings in one lifetime. Okay, okay, so maybe King Mongut of Siam probably didn’t technically have 9,000 weddings, but according to “records”, he is the the dude at the top of the “21 of the Most Married People in History” list. Check out the full list below!

1. King Mongut of Siam (now Thailand). He also happens to be the king in The King and I. This guy had 9,000 wives and concubines. Found this pic on Clouds of Memory, a very interesting blog.

2. King Mutesa of Uganda. This royal had, count ‘em, 7,000 wives. The picture below is actually of King Mutesa II, and to be honest, I have no idea if it was the first Mutesa or the second that had all of his honeys. This picture is from Royal Portraits, another rather interesting blog.

3. King Solomon of Isreal. Good ole’ Solomon had 700 wives. It’s no 9,000, but let’s admit it, it’s still a lot. Picture below is from The Australian Casa.

4. Queen Kahena of Barbary. Let’s hear it for the ladies!! Queen Kahena had 400 hubbies. As an unmarried woman myself, I would imagine one husband is enough work. I can’t imagine 400 of them. But, I guess when you’re royalty, it’s probably not that rough. The image below is from a Resource Center for Afrikan Jews in the Americas website.

5. Augustus the Strong of Saxony. This strong man had just 365 wives. Still a lot in my book, though.

6. Fon of Bikom, of Cameroon is in 6th place with 100 wives. I can’t find a picture of him, so here is a map of Cameroon. I know I know, not quite the same. Pic from the U of Texas.

7. Theresa Vaughn of England. Shout out to the ladies again! Theresa had 61 husbands. According to Duhaime.org, “On December 19, 1922, Theresa Vaughn, then only 24, told the Police Court in Sheffield, England that since 1917, she had married some 61 men (in addition to her first) without ever having obtained a divorce from any of them, in cities in Europe, South Africa and England, giving a whole new meaning to the word polygamy.” Wow.

8. Joseph Smith from the US of A. Mr. Smith had 49 wives. I would have thought this was a large number before I read 1-7. Below is a pic from a LDS.net forum. Not sure if it’s a legit pic or not…but it looks like the other images I found on Google.

9. Ibn-Saud of Saudi Arabia had 35 wives. Pic below from Tour Saudi Arabia.

10. Brigham Young from the US had 27 wives.

11. Heironymus of Rome – 21 wives

12. Glynn de Moss Wolfe, US – 19 wives

13. Beverly N. Avery, US – 16 husbands

14. Ike Ward, US – 16 wives

15. Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard), England – 14 wives

16. Martha Jane Burke (aka Calamity Jane), US – 12 husbands

17. Tommy Manville, US – 11 wives

18. Kid McCoy, US – 10 wives

19. Pancho Villa, Mexico – 9 wives

20. Marie McDonald, US – 8 husbands

21. Artie Shaw, US – 8 wives

NOTE: 1-10 were all polygamists, meaning they had multiple spouses at the same time. The rest must have gone through their spouses one at a time…. Also, someone found this list in a book from the 60’s – the Book of Lists, as a matter of fact. There is an updated copy – check it out if you want to read some really, really interesting (and some rather odd) things! I could look at the pages in that book for HOURS!

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Happy Thursday (the best day of the week)!

BRIDES Magazine turns 75 this year! Here are some little fun facts that were shared with me and I thought it would be fabulous to pass them along!

BRIDES was the world’s first wedding magazine, launched during the Great Depression by a Condé Nast executive who saw weddings as recession-proof.

The magazine was first titled So You’re Going to Be Married. By 1936 it was renamed The Bride’s Magazine. In the ‘70s it became simply BRIDE’S and in 2005 the apostrophe was history.

Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Badgley Mischka and Carolina Herrera all debuted their wedding gowns in the pages of BRIDES.

BRIDES was the very first wedding magazine to cover pregnant brides, intercultural couples, and same-sex marriages .

After 75 years BRIDES remains the #1 wedding magazine, with over 6.4 million readers .

In the ‘40s, BRIDES created a Gift Preference Card that could be filled out and left with the ‘Bridal Bureaus’ of fine stores. This was the precursor to the registry list.

Heidi Klum can thank BRIDES for her very first magazine cover.

There have been only four editors of BRIDES over 75 years. Current Editor in Chief Millie Martini Bratten is celebrating 15 years at the helm.

Famed photographer Richard Avedon shot an entire issue of BRIDES in 1950.

Image from PDNGallery

You’ll find BRIDES in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest magazine ever produced, at 1,271 pages.

Interesting, eh!? Don’t forget to check out our $3,000 Hilton GIVEAWAY! Go enter right this second!

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We all know the saying: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe.

Some brides will go the the Nth degree to make sure they cover all of the above, but do they really know the meaning behind it? Something old is supposed to represent the bride’s past and family. Something new, the future of the couple, full of hope and joy. The item borrowed should be from a happily married woman, and the something blue ties into the rich history of weddings and the meanings behind colors. Lastly, the silver sixpence is for good luck in wealth (though it sounds rather uncomfortable to me).

While we could go into the details more specifically, this post is less for the history and traditions and more for the “today” and the way brides (and grooms) are tying in this little saying into their big days.

Some WeddingFanatic favorites:

Something Old: Classic or vintage car (a Roles Royce gets two thumbs up from me!)
Something New: A new fragrance for the big day, or a custom scent made just for the bride
Something Borrowed: A special piece of jewelry from Grandma or Mom (extra points if it’s from an in-law)
Something Blue: Tiny blue bow sewn into the inside of your dress (blue shoes are a close second), or funky blue socks on the groom (and/or his groomsmen).

Here is a great article from The Knot with some fabulous ideas for all of those “somethings”. Check it out!

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Here are a few more traditions and lore from “Just for the Bride”, a book I posted on not too long ago.

Showing ones affections through poems and serenades wasn’t just in Shakespeare’s day. Guys in Spain, Brazil, and the Philippines still take this tradition seriously. They will compose verses for their loved ones and often invite groups of their friends to join them in making music while singing and dancing, often all night!

During colonial times, English and Dutch emigrants from rural areas introduced a custom of couples courting each other in bed! This practice, called “Bundling” was supposed to cut down on heating costs. Couples trying to get to know each other could do so, fully or partially dressed, while in bed. A “bundling board” was placed in the bed to keep the couple separated, but this practice did lead to a few pregnant brides!

From Using Books

We get the term “spooning” from a Welsh custom, but it meant something else back in the day. When a man wanted to woo his beloved, he would carve an elaborate wooden spoon. If she wanted to return his feelings, she would attach the spoon to a ribbon and wear it around her neck as a sign of the engagement. (Side note: I like the ring idea a bit better!)

From Steven Fletcher

In rural Poland, if a man was interested in a woman, he would visit her and ask her about purchasing a horse. During their conversation, if he revealed a bottle of vodka wrapped in red ribbons and flowers, she’d know the real reason he was there! Instead of asking for her hand in marriage, he would ask for a glass. If she felt she was ready to be his wife, she’d return with glasses and her family to celebrate their engagement.

From Arena Flowers

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