Courting Before Marriage
Before you can have a wedding you have to have a courtship right? The Dutch certainly had a unique way to court their intended. It is called bundling or in Dutch queesten (kweesten).
This form of wooing is where a young lady would leave her window or door open, so that her intended lover could sit or lie on the outside covers of her bed. At the same time, she would lie in bed clothed in her heavy nightwear and covered heavily in blankets. The idea was for the two to converse all night and gain a bit of intimacy from each other.
This custom may have also been used in Welsh communities. However it went a bit further with the young lady dressed only in her petticoat with a knot tied at the bottom. This almost always lead to wedlock.
This custom continued on in the USA till the 1930’s where it fell out of style among those who had brought it over from the Netherlands. The Pennsylvania Dutch would allow their children (of age) to share a bed before marriage. Following the old custom both would be heavily dressed and also covered in heavy blankets. I suspect this happened more in the fall and winter then the summer. Sometimes a thick board would be placed between the two. Again the idea is for the young couple to share the night together talking and gain intimate knowledge about one another before marriage. It seems to have fall out of grace as it may have lead to actual intimacy.
Even though this custom is no longer practiced in it original form, we still do this courtship ritual our own way. Many of us spend a night or two with our intended talking all night long getting to know each other before our marriages. Sometimes we travel to a vacation spot as part of our courtship ritual. The important concept of this wedding tradition is getting to know each other.
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