Not too long ago in, the french woman's wedding dress was a more elaborate or tricked out dress. The brides best regular dress was selected and then jewelry, embroidery, lace, and other niceties were added in order to make her wedding gown. The white dress wasn't necessary although black was reserved for the case where the groom was a widower. Additionally, the color blue symbolized purity and white symbolized joy.
Still today, in some small french villages it is tradition that the groom pick the bride up at her home and escort her to the wedding chapel in a procession. The procession consists of musicians, the bride and grooms parents, and guests. Children have been known to block the route with with white ribbons of which the bride must cut. The obstacles are intended to symbolize the path that the bride and groom must follow, working together in order to overcome difficulties throughout their lives.
Once at the chapel the bride and groom will be married under a silk canopy intended to ward off malice. Note that this canopy is the precursor to our modern veil. Eventually the couples children will be baptized using the same veil.
Finally, after the ceremony the couple exits the chapel and is showered by rice and/or wheat as a symbol of fertility. The couple may also walk over laurel leaves and through a flowered arch.
And common throughout many cultures, the most fragrant flowers were selected in order to ward off evil spirits. The bride may flaunt an orange blossom symbolizing virginity as well.
Once at the reception the newlyweds will toast each other from an engraved, two handled cup (la coupe de mariage).
In the past it was the job of the best man to steal the garter off the bride. I can't see this going over to well today. It would then be sold to the guests who believed that peices of the brides attire would bring luck. It is said that the bride may sometimes simply throw her garter to the guests in order to prevent them tearing it off her. More common today, she will simply throw the bouquet.
One early French wedding custom signifies the new alliance created by uniting two families through marriage. During the Wedding Reception, the new couple raise a glass of wine from two different vineyards. They then pour their wine into a third glass and each drinks from it.
Chiverie is the wedding night prank of clanging pots to interrupt the nuptial couple; the groom must invite the mischief makers in for refreshments. This mock serenade used to be played at all weddings. Sometimes, however, only unpopular weddings were subjected to it.
The French brought the custom to America, where it spread from Canada and Louisiana to the South and Midwest. In rough pioneer settlements, the "shivaree", as it came to be called, was very popular and often elaborated into a ritual humiliation of the bride and bridegroom. This has led to tying a cowbell under the bed or tying cans to the car, still scaring away spirits.