I have always thought that the stereotypical bride is the May bride. That is, until I was left utterly confused after learning that the popular phrase is the “June bride” and not the “May bride.” May, which is the peak month of spring, seems like the most appropriate month for a lovely, outdoor wedding in the springtime. The newly bloomed flowers during spring not only complement all the soft and flowery sweetness of weddings, but the meaning of new birth mirrors the beginning of the newlywed’s life. But, June? June is too obscure; it simply signals the beginning of summer. So, what is the origin of this awkward “June bride?”

I certainly didn’t expect that a beautiful bride would be so closely related to body odor. The origin of the June bride comes from the days when people only used to take baths once a year in May. Because the brides still smelled good, or at least bearable in June, June became the most popular and practical month for marriage. But, mind you, it has been a month already, so the bride would carry a bouquet of flowers to make sure that the audience and the groom do not smell the fragrant whiff of her body odor.

Now, that’s pretty disgusting. To make up for the awkwardness of June, I had a faint hope that there would be a reason for marrying in June that is as lovely as marrying in May. For example, June couples can enjoy a wedding in a warm, beautiful weather under a sheer, white canopy on the beach shore… But after learning this smelly origin of the June bride, I felt cheated, even though I know that a misconception about the origin of “June bride” is trivial among all other misconceptions that we make daily. So, if misconceptions are common, what’s wrong with having an “inaccurate” notion about the “June bride?” The disappointment of being off the mark about the origin of the “June bride” seems to be the disappointment of being wrong, or far away from the truth. But was my notion so “wrong?”

Interpretations change over time. Marrying in June was practical when taking a bath once a year used to be acceptable. When a concept from hundreds of years ago persists until the present, we create new interpretations with which we feel more comfortable in order to accommodate the cultural difference. My new interpretation of marrying in June for the warm weather is this accommodation for the 21st century when body odor is no longer an important wedding issue.

Constant changes in interpretations have created an amusing complexity underneath what we accept on the surface level. There is something more than just what we see, another story from the past lurking behind our present understanding. Time and perception shape the identity of tradition and concepts that have been passed down; it has become unnecessary and even misleading to get too caught up on the “truth” or the “real meaning” that is eventually mutable.

Source

Small Group Touring, UK & Europe: Words & Phrases, Back-Roads Touring Co.