t is a tradition to see brides stand on the left side of the groom at weddings but have you ever wondered the reason behind it? “Marriage by capture,” as the practice is known historically, is no easy feat. The idea of a man abducting a woman to make her his bride has nevertheless been practiced for thousands of years, addressed in Greek mythology, in the Bible, and in endless historical accounts. While bridal abduction still exists among some cultures in Africa, Central Asia, and elsewhere, its legacy has stuck around the Western world in an unexpected way— the way the bride and groom stand at their weddings. Traditionally, the bride stands on the left at the altar and the groom stands on the right. According to The Knot and Compton’s Encyclopedia, this is not a coincidence: In historic, swashbuckling times, a man needed to keep his right arm free to draw his sword. Like the mythological Paris battling his way to the sea with Helen captured in his left arm, a prospective groom ...