Jewish Wedding Customs

I recently read Customs and Folkways of Jewish Life by Theodor H. Gaster, a book that will hopefully be the source of a number of interesting future posts. I'm getting married in the not-too-distant future, so I'll share with you some excerpts that are on topic:

1. The Hebrew word kallah primarily means "one who is shut in, secluded," referring to postnuptial seclusion that used to take place in ancient cultures.
2. The Hebrew word chatan primarily means "one who is circumcised." In ancient cultures, the groom's father typically would circumcise the groom before the wedding as a means of correcting any sexual condition (real or otherwise) that may prevent reproduction.
3. Sometimes, wedding garb was used to render the bridge and groom unrecognizable by malicious spirits. In the 15th century it was customary for Jewish grooms to wear clothes of mourning and to strew ashes on his head. This was a means of disguising oneself from demons.
4. Ancient Greeks had a chuppah (thalamos) at their weddings, as did other cultures. Much of the reason behind the chuppah has to do with screening the bride and groom from "assaults of demons and from the evil eye."
5. The custom of smashing a glass is "by no means exclusively Jewish not, indeed, is it mentioned in the earlier Jewish sources." Evidently it's something we picked up from our neighbors way back when. Once again - you guessed it - demons! The rite symbolically smashed the powers of the demons and all ill-wishers.

Interesting. Anyway, I'm still excited for the ceremony!