There are several theories behind the tradition of Dad walking his daughter down the aisle to her Groom.
One such theory is that the coloured veils that the girls used to wear were so thick they couldn’t always see where they were going so Dad used to have to walk alongside to guide them.
However, hundreds of years ago daughters were considered to be the property of their Father and if a man wished to marry her he had to pay a price to the girl’s family.
It used to be that once the Father approved of the union then he would be transferring ‘ownership’ of his daughter to her new husband.
Nowadays the Priest or Celebrant asks who is giving the bride away to be married, effectively asking if he is giving his approval for the marriage, and its usually the Father who replies and hands over his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Some women are not able to go by this tradition, sometimes due to the Father no longer being around, and choose to walk down the aisle alongside another member of their family such as their mother or a sibling or even walk down by themselves.
by Jacqui Dunster
Sources: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com; brideandgroom.com;
Jennie DellaMonica, Yahoo! Contributor Network, Mar 2, 2007
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