Since at that time rice was cheap, clean, and white,

[keannu]

This passage has been dealing with "wheat", but at the end, switched over to "rice". What does "rice" have to do with "wheat" here?

mo39) Since early Roman times some grain has been associated with the wedding ceremony. Wheat, a symbol of fertility, was carried in the bride’s hand or worn around her neck. As the bride left the church, grains of wheat were tossed at her, and young girls rushed to pick up the grains that had actually touched the bride. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ, wheat was no longer tossed at brides but was instead baked into small cakes that were
then crumbled and tossed over the bride’s head.This change in ceremony left the wedding guests feeling deprived, since they had nothing to toss at the bride. Since at that time rice was cheap, clean, and white, it seemed a good substitute for the more expensive wheat cakes.

 

[emsr2d2]

Rice replaced wheat in those situations. In the past, wheat was thrown at the bride but that changed during the reign of Elizabeth I and the wheat was baked into small cakes. The wedding guests then felt deprived of anything to throw at the bride but rice was cheap, clean and white so they decided to throw that at the bride instead.

That tradition continues today. When a newly married couple exit the church, the guests throw either rice or confetti all over them.

 

[SoothingDave]

They try to discourage the practice nowadays, and many places in the US will not allow it. Apparently, birds will eat the rice kernels and they expand in their stomachs and can cause the birds harm. We gave out little bottles so the guests could blow bubbles in celebration.

The release of doves is another practice.

 

[emsr2d2]

Some churches/register offices in the UK have banned it for the same reason. Mind you, some have banned confetti because they don't like cleaning it up afterwards (I'm not sure why they would clean it up - it's very pretty).

 

[probus]

The best practice I have seen was that we each received a butterfly in a tiny box like a matchbox. Upon command, we released them.