Why Is Rice Thrown at Weddings?
Why Is Rice Thrown at Weddings? When you throw rice over the bridal couple, you are symbolically, wishing them happiness, prosperity, and many children. The idea is to give the newlyweds good luck, and abundance using this symbol of a good crop.
Throwing rice at weddings is a very old custom. Throwing rice at a newly married couple has been a tradition for thousands of years, possibly going back as far as the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians.
For many early people, rice was the symbol of fruitfulness, probably because it was the important local food. (In early England, throwing wheat over the newlyweds carried the same wish.)
In some early customs, rice was carried by the bride as a wish for fertility. It may also have been thrown as an offering to the evil spirits who might appear at a wedding, to protect the married couple from harm.