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(shí)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(wú)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(méi)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(guò)通道會(huì)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(gè)傳統(tǒng)從何而來(lái)呢？盡管有人提出，婚禮上的手捧花最初是用來(lái)掩蓋體味的，因?yàn)榻?jīng)常洗澡在那時(shí)還沒(méi)有成為常態(tài)，但這其實(shí)是個(gè)誤解。實(shí)際上，最早的新娘手捧花并沒(méi)有很多花——相反，它們主要由草本植物組成。據(jù)《讀者文摘》報(bào)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(chéng)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(shí)已知的催情藥蒔蘿特別常見(jiàn)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(shí)也被用于手捧花，因?yàn)樗徽J(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(kāi)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(bào)道，在16世紀(jì)的英格蘭，萬(wàn)壽菊作為忠誠(chéng)和無(wú)盡愛(ài)情的象征而變得越來(lái)越受歡迎，因?yàn)槿f(wàn)壽菊對(duì)太陽(yáng)十分忠誠(chéng)——總是在白天盛放，在夜晚收攏花瓣。而且，和蒔蘿一樣，萬(wàn)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(shí)代，花語(yǔ)（花的語(yǔ)言）成為一種流行的時(shí)尚，人們開(kāi)始互送精心搭配的具有特定含義的花束，當(dāng)時(shí)還有幫助破解花束含義的花語(yǔ)小詞典。據(jù)秘境輿圖網(wǎng)站報(bào)道，舉例來(lái)說(shuō)，薄荷草意味著“你必須離開(kāi)”，鳳梨花則會(huì)清楚地向你的愛(ài)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(yǔ)慢慢地不再流行，但是新娘手捧花卻一直流傳至今，只不過(guò)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(gè)隱藏的花語(yǔ)學(xué)家。

英文來(lái)源：Mental Floss

編譯：丹妮

審校：董靜、齊磊