What Happened to Throwing Rice at Weddings? How the Wedding Rice Toss is Changing at Modern Weddings

It's one of those old-fashioned images we all remember from childhood: a newly married couple rush down the steps of the church to their car while their friends and family shower them with wedding rice. The idea of throwing rice at weddings may still be in our popular consciousness, but if you've attended any weddings in the past 20 years chances are you've seen few, if any, actual examples of wedding rice in practice. Although people have been tossing rice at weddings for thousands of years, its use at the contemporary wedding is in decline. Fortunately there are a couple of eco-friendly wedding rice alternatives for all you modern brides that's bringing back this traditional image in a unique way.

History and the Decline of the Wedding Rice Toss

But before we discuss alternatives we're left with the questions, "Where did the wedding rice toss come from, and where did it go?" Weddings are nothing if not an outlet for traditions, and throwing rice is one of the oldest that's still practiced today. Tossing rice at weddings owes its origins to the ancient Celts, for whom it was a symbol of growth and fertility. This special symbolism, possibly combined with the fact that it's simply fun to throw confetti and it looks beautiful airborne, has made throwing rice a ubiquitous part of weddings in western culture for most of its history.

Two developments have changed that in recent decades. First is the popular misconception, sometimes attributed to Ann Landers, that the rice tossed at weddings gets eaten by birds, expands in their stomachs, and hurts or kills them. The good news for birds is this myth is completely untrue -- birds actually eat grains of rice in the wild to supplement their diets, with no ill effects. Unfortunately for the tradition, however, this myth continues to be widely circulated.

The second and most significant reason for the practice's decline is simply that many churches and venues prohibit it. Tossing all that rice at your wedding can make a huge mess, one that the venue is left to clean. There is also an issue with the shape of rice grains, which are usually round, as they can roll underneath shoe heels and create a slipping hazard, making rice an insurance liability that many churches are unwilling to accept.

Bubbles as a Wedding Rice Alternative

If you were contemplating a wedding rice toss at your ceremony, don't worry, because there are wedding rice alternatives you can try instead. If you were ever a kid you should already be familiar with our first suggestion, and that's blow bubbles. That's right, bubbles are an airy, almost dream-like wedding rice alternative that look spectacular and leave nothing to clean up. You can even find wedding bubbles that are packaged in bottles with shapes like hearts, doves, and bells to distribute to your guests. Imagine 30 or more of your friends and loved ones, all blowing bubbles simultaneously, and you can get a sense of just how grand this practice can look.

And if you're worried about that soapy water getting in your hair or on everyone's nice clothes, don't be. Most wedding bubbles are made from a solution that is non-toxic and non-staining, making them safe for kids and your dress. In fact, you can even place a few kids in charge of the bubble blowing on your big day. This is a great way to make children feel like an important part of your celebration, and we guarantee you won't find a more enthusiastic group of blowers.

Biodegradable Wedding Rice Alternatives

The second wedding rice alternative gives the tradition a real 21st century makeover. Ecofetti is a water soluble tossing confetti that's also fully biodegradable. Ecofetti can be thrown like wedding rice, only it's lighter and tends to stay airborne a little longer. It's described as being safe for the environment, does not present a slipping hazard, and once your wedding is over it can be hosed away in minutes or, according to the manufacturer, left to dissolve on its own within about 48 hours.

Ecofetti has the texture of finely cut paper, much like traditional confetti, but is also available in a variety of "rice cuts" that look and feel a little more like classic throwing rice. Ecofetti also comes in a wide variety of colors that can be mixed, matched, and combined -- it still comes in white, too.

Compressed Wedding Rice

But if these wedding rice alternatives just don't do it for you and you're still committed to the original tradition, there's a modern day option for you here as well. Designer wedding rice is available that uses a process to compress rice grains into a non-round shape, usually something like hearts. This compressed rice lies flat when it hits the ground and can be crushed under foot, minimizing the risk of falls. It also breaks down faster than regular rice grains and will gradually dissolve on its own. Like regular rice it's also safe for birds, so don't feel bad if the local wildlife does a little of the post-wedding cleaning for you.

Talk to Your Venue about Your Options

Many venues that prohibit wedding rice tosses are willing to make exceptions for these alternatives, so be sure to discuss your options with the administrators of yours. Chances are you'll find a way to make those indelible wedding images a part of your special day, and you'll be helping to revive a timeless tradition that's been around for almost long as there have been weddings.

About the Author:
Brian Cross regularly writes articles and guides related to do-it-yourself wedding planning for BridesVillage.com, a wedding accessories retailer. He is also a freelance writer, researcher, and content developer.

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Modern Rice Cookers

Rice cookers in general have come a long way since their initial incarnation thousands of years ago, where simple ceramic pots were used on open fires in order to facilitate the cooking process. It is difficult to believe that the modern, electric rice cookers we know and love today were beginning to take shape back in the 1940s, with commercial examples arriving around a decade later and quickly becoming an appliance considered essential as any other. It could be said that the rice-cooker revolution came about in 1956, when the first rice cookers were produced offering a level of convenience previously unseen, with new technology being explored, which in this instance came in the form of a double-chamber cooking process.

Although incredibly advanced for its time, the indirect double-chamber cooking process was something of a moderately lengthy process, also requiring a considerable amount of electricity. As technology continued to move forward, this particular model was gradually phased out from the 1960s onwards.

Rice

The modern equivalent rice cooker such as the zojirushi rice cooker for instance, uses a design which certainly bears similarities to the original, usually featuring a well-insulated outer container along with a removable inner bowl. The inner bowl is often found with a non-stick surface in order to both prevent burning and afford easy cleaning, along with featuring a number or incremental water-level marks on the inner wall which are used in order to accurately measure rice using 'cups'. It is worth bearing in mind however, that when measuring an amount of rice which needs to be particularly specific, the Chinese measurement of a cup is around 25% smaller than the American equivalent.

From the late 1990s and early 2000s, advancements to traditional rice cookers started to materialize rather quickly, which brought to the market a significantly increased level of attention from consumers. One of the biggest breakthroughs which later became standard in the more advanced models was the use of non-metallic internal cooking bowls which were resistant to both extreme heat and also thermal infrared waves sometime used to improve the flavor of cooked rice.

Taking the idea to another level, 2006 saw Mitsubishi produce the most expensive example the world had ever seen which featured an all carbon hand-carved bowl, which used induction cooking for the most sublime results possible. Although retailing for a quite incredible ,400, over 10,000 units were sold within six months. The success of this super-luxury models saw manufacturers the world over begin to push the envelope a little further, in light of the realization that many customers were indeed willing to pay much higher prices for units of quality.

Other materials often utilized within the more luxurious rice cookers include copper, ceramic-iron and even diamond coatings. Of course, these are often priced way beyond the means of the average home cook, but such advances and expansion of the market have seen the lower end models such as the fuzzy logic rice cooker, drop quite dramatically in price; most of which are still capable of producing superb results with minimal input.

Modern Rice Cookers

In addition to her numerous interests which include, mountain biking, hiking, camping, and cooking, Debbie also likes to create product reviews. Visit her most recent site on rice cooker reviews and find out how today's advanced Zojirushi rice cooker will offer your loved ones delightful, dining out quality rice anytime.

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What Happened to Throwing Rice at Weddings? How the Wedding Rice Toss is Changing at Modern Weddings

It's one of those old-fashioned images we all remember from childhood: a newly married couple rush down the steps of the church to their car while their friends and family shower them with wedding rice. The idea of throwing rice at weddings may still be in our popular consciousness, but if you've attended any weddings in the past 20 years chances are you've seen few, if any, actual examples of wedding rice in practice. Although people have been tossing rice at weddings for thousands of years, its use at the contemporary wedding is in decline. Fortunately there are a couple of eco-friendly wedding rice alternatives for all you modern brides that's bringing back this traditional image in a unique way.

History and the Decline of the Wedding Rice Toss

Rice

But before we discuss alternatives we're left with the questions, "Where did the wedding rice toss come from, and where did it go?" Weddings are nothing if not an outlet for traditions, and throwing rice is one of the oldest that's still practiced today. Tossing rice at weddings owes its origins to the ancient Celts, for whom it was a symbol of growth and fertility. This special symbolism, possibly combined with the fact that it's simply fun to throw confetti and it looks beautiful airborne, has made throwing rice a ubiquitous part of weddings in western culture for most of its history.

Two developments have changed that in recent decades. First is the popular misconception, sometimes attributed to Ann Landers, that the rice tossed at weddings gets eaten by birds, expands in their stomachs, and hurts or kills them. The good news for birds is this myth is completely untrue -- birds actually eat grains of rice in the wild to supplement their diets, with no ill effects. Unfortunately for the tradition, however, this myth continues to be widely circulated.

The second and most significant reason for the practice's decline is simply that many churches and venues prohibit it. Tossing all that rice at your wedding can make a huge mess, one that the venue is left to clean. There is also an issue with the shape of rice grains, which are usually round, as they can roll underneath shoe heels and create a slipping hazard, making rice an insurance liability that many churches are unwilling to accept.

Bubbles as a Wedding Rice Alternative

If you were contemplating a wedding rice toss at your ceremony, don't worry, because there are wedding rice alternatives you can try instead. If you were ever a kid you should already be familiar with our first suggestion, and that's blow bubbles. That's right, bubbles are an airy, almost dream-like wedding rice alternative that look spectacular and leave nothing to clean up. You can even find wedding bubbles that are packaged in bottles with shapes like hearts, doves, and bells to distribute to your guests. Imagine 30 or more of your friends and loved ones, all blowing bubbles simultaneously, and you can get a sense of just how grand this practice can look.

And if you're worried about that soapy water getting in your hair or on everyone's nice clothes, don't be. Most wedding bubbles are made from a solution that is non-toxic and non-staining, making them safe for kids and your dress. In fact, you can even place a few kids in charge of the bubble blowing on your big day. This is a great way to make children feel like an important part of your celebration, and we guarantee you won't find a more enthusiastic group of blowers.

Biodegradable Wedding Rice Alternatives

The second wedding rice alternative gives the tradition a real 21st century makeover. Ecofetti is a water soluble tossing confetti that's also fully biodegradable. Ecofetti can be thrown like wedding rice, only it's lighter and tends to stay airborne a little longer. It's described as being safe for the environment, does not present a slipping hazard, and once your wedding is over it can be hosed away in minutes or, according to the manufacturer, left to dissolve on its own within about 48 hours.

Ecofetti has the texture of finely cut paper, much like traditional confetti, but is also available in a variety of "rice cuts" that look and feel a little more like classic throwing rice. Ecofetti also comes in a wide variety of colors that can be mixed, matched, and combined -- it still comes in white, too.

Compressed Wedding Rice

But if these wedding rice alternatives just don't do it for you and you're still committed to the original tradition, there's a modern day option for you here as well. Designer wedding rice is available that uses a process to compress rice grains into a non-round shape, usually something like hearts. This compressed rice lies flat when it hits the ground and can be crushed under foot, minimizing the risk of falls. It also breaks down faster than regular rice grains and will gradually dissolve on its own. Like regular rice it's also safe for birds, so don't feel bad if the local wildlife does a little of the post-wedding cleaning for you.

Talk to Your Venue about Your Options

Many venues that prohibit wedding rice tosses are willing to make exceptions for these alternatives, so be sure to discuss your options with the administrators of yours. Chances are you'll find a way to make those indelible wedding images a part of your special day, and you'll be helping to revive a timeless tradition that's been around for almost long as there have been weddings.

What Happened to Throwing Rice at Weddings? How the Wedding Rice Toss is Changing at Modern Weddings

About the Author:
Brian Cross regularly writes articles and guides related to do-it-yourself wedding planning for BridesVillage.com, a wedding accessories retailer. He is also a freelance writer, researcher, and content developer.

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