(2) Kissing the Bride

(2) KISSING THE BRIDE.

The York Missal and the Sarum Manual both enjoin the nuptial kiss, but it should be given in church. It is expressly mentioned in the following line from the old play of The Insatiate Countess by Marston:--

"The kisse thou gav'st me in the church here take."

In some places it is still customary for the men of the marriage party to kiss the bride in church; although an increasing respect for the altar prevents the event from taking place immediately the benediction is pronounced, as was once the rule; if done at all, the kissing is half furtively concluded in the vestry or in the home of the bride. Vaughan, in his Golden Grove (1608), says that "among the Romans the future couple sent certain pledges one to another which most commonly, they themselves afterwards being present, would confirm with a religious kisse." Kissing is a Caucasian habit; orientals being strangers to it. Lombroso discovers its origin in maternal caresses from which it developed into feelings of trust and reverence.