We had a lot of mixed traditions," he said. “For us, in our minds, we’re legally married, and we did a tradition that validates that we’re able to. “I remembered this tradition of the slaves and how was a way for them to show the significance of their ceremony.” “We were unable to legally get married in the state of Virginia, but we could fly to California and be legally married,” Jeffrey said about his partner Sam. While it's a Welsh-Roma ritual, jumping the broom has garnered attention from couples outside of the Romani and Black cultures. And we want to be reconnected with our past to keep it alive.” Cultural Appreciation vs. Even if our parents or their parents didn’t, someone along the line did. Smith said, “We would be keeping a tradition that our ancestors did when they got married. “It’s like the veil, they treat it with care because someone special to them made it for them,” Hughes said about storing the broom.Ĭonnection to ancestral roots is what makes Black couples so proud of this ritual. It’s common for newlyweds to set up their broom at home on display by their wedding photos. “We have ours mounted above our wedding photo among the family wall of photographed accomplishments and medals,” she shared.
Carlton Inc., a Chicago-based wedding planner.
So, what happens after the ceremony? The broom is normally placed by the sweetheart table or the cake display, according to K. Photo courtesy of Montenegro Photography The Broom After the Wedding The broom bearer should be big enough to carry the broom down the aisle.” Other times, the broom is preset at the altar or held in the front row by the mother of the bride or groom until the jump, event planner Aisha Thomas shared. “Sometimes couples have a broom bearer who is usually older than the ring bearer,” said Lorri Lewis, Lead Planner at DirectHER. Be sure to make the broom part of the detail shot list just like the invitations, the rings, and the flowers.
#JUMPING THE BROOM MEANING FULL#
Not every photographer will understand the full scope of this tradition’s history. Brides and grooms who incorporate the tradition into their big day usually make their own or designate a loved one to make it for them. While the tradition hasn’t significantly faded away, it’s rare to find a vendor who makes brooms for wedding ceremonies. Today, the tradition is alive and well in Black weddings. Consequently, jumping the broom became a symbol of ancestral acknowledgment and honor. As a result, some of them refused to officialize their marriage with neither clergy nor county members. Many slaves who married before 1865 believed that jumping the broom was sufficient. Around the middle of the 19th century, African Americans identified with the ritual as their own.Īfter the Civil War, former slaves could register their marital status with the government. Others coordinated elaborate weddings to prove their benevolence to slaves and abolitionists. Some slave owners forced slaves to jump the broom to signify their union.
The tradition most likely traveled to America with slave traders. – Orsella Hughes, Officiant at Serenity Ceremonies The premise here is that two is better than one, and a strand of three is not easily broken.” “The broom handle represents the strength of the family, the bristles represent family members, and the decorative ribbon is the three-strand cord that God speaks to. Historical records from 1700 in Wales are the oldest documentation of the ritual. Their marital statuses were never recognized by the church. Interestingly, the tradition of jumping the broom traces back to Romani people living among the Welsh. However, there’s no record of its occurrence in Africa prior to the Transatlantic Slave Trade, according to Tyler Parry, a historian of marriage rituals in the African diaspora. A popular myth alleges that this tradition was a West African tribe’s ritual and passed on from generation to generation. As a result, broom jumping became the act of consecrating a marriage between slaves.
Weddings among Black slaves weren’t recognized by the government before the Civil War. The ancient wedding tradition of jumping the broom is strongly associated with Black weddings in the United States.