為什么在西式婚禮上新娘都要拿著手捧花？據(jù)稱這一做法早在古羅馬時期就出現(xiàn)了，但原因可能和你想的不太一樣，既不是為了避免新娘的手無處安放，也不是為了遮蓋體味。

While the bridal bouquet isn’t exactly a wedding necessity—the show could technically go on without it—it’s still a pretty integral part of the ceremony. To put this in perspective, just imagine how odd it would seem for a bride to walk down the aisle empty-handed.
手捧花雖然不是婚禮的必需品——沒有它理論上婚禮也能進(jìn)行——但它仍然是儀式中非常重要的一部分。為了更好地理解這一點(diǎn)，你可以想象一下新娘空手走過通道會顯得多么奇怪。

So where did the tradition come from? Though some have suggested wedding flowers were originally used to mask body odor before frequent bathing became the norm, that’s a misconception. In fact, the earliest bridal bouquets didn’t contain very many flowers, if any—instead, they mostly comprised herbs. According to Reader’s Digest, ancient Romans were the first to adopt the practice of sending their brides down the aisle with bundles of herbs, which symbolized things like fidelity and fertility.
那么這個傳統(tǒng)從何而來呢？盡管有人提出，婚禮上的手捧花最初是用來掩蓋體味的，因為經(jīng)常洗澡在那時還沒有成為常態(tài)，但這其實(shí)是個誤解。實(shí)際上，最早的新娘手捧花并沒有很多花——相反，它們主要由草本植物組成。據(jù)《讀者文摘》報道，古羅馬人最先采用讓新娘手持一束草本植物走上紅毯的這一做法，這些草本植物象征著忠誠和生育能力。

Dill, already a known aphrodisiac at the time, was especially common in those bouquets, and it was also often served at wedding receptions to help the bride and groom prepare to consummate their bond. Garlic was sometimes used in the bouquets, too, since it was thought to protect the bride from bad luck or evil spirits.
當(dāng)時已知的催情藥蒔蘿特別常見于這些手捧花中，它也經(jīng)常在婚宴上供應(yīng)，以幫助新娘和新郎圓房。大蒜有時也被用于手捧花，因為它被認(rèn)為可以保護(hù)新娘免受厄運(yùn)或邪靈的侵?jǐn)_。

Over the following centuries, people started to introduce other flora into their wedding bouquets, flowers included. As Snopes reports, marigolds gained popularity in 16th-century England as a symbol of faithfulness and endless love, because marigolds are so faithful to the sun—blooming in daylight and closing their petals at night. And, like dill, they were considered an aphrodisiac.
其后數(shù)百年間，人們開始在婚禮手捧花中加入其他植物，包括花卉。據(jù)辟謠網(wǎng)站Snopes報道，在16世紀(jì)的英格蘭，萬壽菊作為忠誠和無盡愛情的象征而變得越來越受歡迎，因為萬壽菊對太陽十分忠誠——總是在白天盛放，在夜晚收攏花瓣。而且，和蒔蘿一樣，萬壽菊也被認(rèn)為有催情功效。

Then, during the Victorian era, floriography (the language of flowers) became a prevalent fad, and people began to send each other carefully assembled bouquets of flowers with specific meanings, which your handy floral dictionary could help you decipher. According to Atlas Obscura, pennyroyal meant “You must leave,” for example, while a pineapple would clearly convey to your lover that you think they’re perfect.
隨后，在維多利亞時代，花語（花的語言）成為一種流行的時尚，人們開始互送精心搭配的具有特定含義的花束，當(dāng)時還有幫助破解花束含義的花語小詞典。據(jù)秘境輿圖網(wǎng)站報道，舉例來說，薄荷草意味著“你必須離開”，鳳梨花則會清楚地向你的愛人傳達(dá)你認(rèn)為他/她很完美。

Secret flower messages fell out of fashion as the world shifted focus to World War I, but bridal bouquets never did—though you might want to make sure yours doesn’t contain any pennyroyal, just in case your soon-to-be spouse happens to be a closet floriographer.
在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)后，花語慢慢地不再流行，但是新娘手捧花卻一直流傳至今，只不過你可能需要確認(rèn)一下花束中不包含薄荷草，以防你的另一半恰巧是一個隱藏的花語學(xué)家。

英文來源：Mental Floss

編譯：丹妮

審校：董靜、齊磊