Things You'll Need:
- Brooms
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Step 1
Select a time to perform this tradition. Either at the very end of the ceremony or during the reception would be appropriate.
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Step 2
Call your guests to gather around you and your new spouse.
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Step 3
Place the broom on the floor and stand in front of it.
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Step 4
Ask a family member or friend to narrate the history of this custom. It stems back to the time when slaves were prevented from marrying. They developed this ritual as a way to unite in ceremony.
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Step 5
Suggest that the narrator explain to guests that you are re-creating the ceremony as a way to represent the joining together of two lives and the need for support of the marriage from the entire community.
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Step 6
Hold the broom with your spouse as the narrator shares this important information.
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Step 7
Sweep the broom in a circle together until the story is finished.
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Step 8
Place the broom on the floor and hold hands with your spouse.
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Step 9
Ask the guests to count out loud to three.
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Step 10
Jump over the broom together.
Comments
Annabel said
on 10/13/2008 COUNTIUATION OF 10-13-2008 IY WOULDNT ALL FIT :D
Although I agree yes it was a ritual used during slavery, which may have been forced on the slaves from their masters or perhaps something they picked up from them, and yes Africa has been referred to as the mother land so yes perhaps it was practiced there or has similar rituals there, but it was also used very often by MY ANCESTORS the Irish and Scottish people, who suffered longer and before the Africans did from slavery, there needs to be more sites that also state this is not a ritual for just one people, but in fact has many origins and many different practices other then African American.
Annabel said
on 10/13/2008 It makes me angry when every time i research "broom jumping" all that follows is "african american" while yes this was used in the South for poor folks including slaves to represent a marriage that they could not legally have had or afford, this is also traced by to Celtic/Welsh tradition and was used not just by blacks like everyone refers to today, but by many whites and other ethnic cultures. There is no real evidence that this was originally an african ritual besides simular findings in Ghana Africa where brooms were waved above the heads of newlyweds and their parents. Jumping the broom is also a large part of Pagan tradition, a religion that dates back before Christianity. Allthough I agree yes it was a ritual used during slavery, which may have been forced on the slaves from their masters or perhaps something they picked up from them, and yes Africa has been referred to as the mot
Anonymous said
on 3/29/2006 Many craft stores sell brooms made of sticks or twigs that can be decorated to match your wedding theme.
When we eloped on the beach in Jamaica we didn't plan to jump the broom at all. But at our reception back in the States, my Aunt surprised us with a beautiful broom decorated with real seashells and ivory ribbons, the same color as my wedding dress. As we entered the reception room, she surprised us with the broom to jump!
Unlike my wedding bouquet I had to leave in Jamaica, our seashell wedding broom is something I will keep forever. It's displayed in our living room and looks as beautiful as the day we jumped!
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 The broom jump is not just a Welsh tradition, but a Celtic Tradition. The Celts stretched from Ireland, Great Britain, France and Spain. This tradition was also combined with hand-fasting, which is where the term tied the knot came from. Maybe it is a combination of African and European heritage, just like the Cajuns and Creoles.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 Many African wedding traditions include a derivative of broom jumping. Most cultural historians attribute this African-American slave tradition to the stick crossing ceremony of West African roots.