June is traditionally the high-water mark for weddings, so let’s observe it with a bouquet of trivia questions all about tying the knot.
1. Speaking of tying the knot… True or false: The phrase “tying the knot” is derived from an actual knot tied during Celtic wedding ceremonies.
2. What does “something blue” in a bride’s wedding attire symbolize?
a. Fidelity and loyalty
b. Love and purity
c. Good luck
d. All of the above
3. English wedding tradition involves the bride carrying a silver coin for good luck. Where is the coin traditionally carried?
a. Her tiara
b. Her bouquet
c. Her brassiere
d. Her shoe
4. This Canadian rocker topped the charts with a song featuring the lyric, “It’s like rain on your wedding day.”
a. Joni Mitchell
b. Bryan Adams
c. Alanis Morissette
d. Justin Bieber
5. The term “honeymoon” originally referred to what?
a. Honey harvested beneath a full moon, believed to be an enchanted wedding gift that brings a lifetime of prosperity.
b. A special blessing received by marrying during a full moon.
c. A month of mead drinking by the newlyweds after their wedding.
d. A love poem written by the newlyweds during the month following their wedding.
6. 34 years before this English actress played a British nanny in Disney’s Mary Poppins, she electrified audiences as the titular character in The Bride of Frankenstein.
a. Elsa Lanchester
b. Maureen O’Hara
c. Marlene Dietrich
d. Greta Garbo
7. In 1982, this British punk rocker scored a career breakthrough in the U.S. with a song inspired by his sister’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
a. David Johansen
b. Billy Idol
c. Adam Ant
d. Johnny Rotten
8. In 1981, the “world’s most eligible bachelor” tied the knot with this aristocrat at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
a. Sarah Ferguson
b. Catherine Middleton
c. Diana Spencer
d. Dame Edna Everage
9. In the opening scene of this sitcom’s first episode, a bride with cold feet darts into a coffee shop, having just jilted her groom at the altar.
a. The Nanny
b. Mad About You
c. Will & Grace
d. Friends
10. This wedding-themed musical has a barn raising scene described by one film critic as “one of the most rousing dance numbers ever put on screen.”
a. My Fair Lady
b. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
c. I do! I do!
d. The Bride and Groom
ANSWERS:
- True. “Tying the knot” originates from the ancient Celtic practice of handfasting, where a couple’s hands were literally bound together with ribbons or cords during their wedding ceremony.
- All of the above. Apparently, blue is a versatile color. Many modern brides honor the long-standing tradition “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” with personal embellishments to their wedding attire—anything from a garter, a piece of jewelry, shoes, or the bouquet.
- The walk down the aisle may feel a bit awkward for a British bride, whose father traditionally slips a silver coin into her shoe to signify his blessing and good wishes for the couple’s future.
- Alanis Morissette sang the soggy lyric in her 1996 hit song, “Ironic.”
- Vikings believed consuming mead, a honey wine, for a full moon cycle (a “honeymoon”) following their wedding would bring newlyweds happiness, fertility, and a prosperous union.
- She had no spoken dialogue and very little screen time; nonetheless, Elsa Lanchester made a stunning impression as the monster’s mate in the 1935 Universal Pictures classic.
- Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” made the Billboard charts and fueled the punk rocker’s ascent to stateside stardom. His work wasn’t as appreciated in his native UK until it was reissued in 1985.
- On Wednesday, July 29, 1981, more than 750 million television viewers tuned in to watch Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer exchange vows and begin their ill-fated royal marriage.
- 2 ½ minutes into the opening episode of Friends, Rachel, in a moment of foreshadowing, enters the coffee bar in a wedding dress after Ross laments, “I just want to be married again.”
- Innovative choreography by Michael Kidd turned mundane frontier chores like wood chopping and barn building into energetic dance scenes in the 1954 MGM production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
