It’s likely that the early flower girls weren’t flower girls at all but rather herb and grain children.
Many sources trace the origins of the flower girl to Ancient Rome. While modern flower girls are honored guests at the wedding, according to an article published in the Family Relations journal, their ancient counterparts “were included to encourage fertility.” In order to do this, event planner Roxanne Bellamy told Brides.com that young girls in ancient Greek and Roman wedding parties were given grains and herbs to sprinkle along the bride’s path. As Europe moved into the Medieval Period, garlic and dill subbed the sheaths of wheat as the girls’ offerings. They were held by the children to ward off evil, as wedding expert Eleni N. Gage wrote in “Lucky In Love: Traditions, Customs, and Rituals to Personalize Your Wedding.”
As years have gone by, what young girls symbolized and how important they were to a wedding procession varied. In the Elizabethan era, Bellamy said, predecessors to modern flower girls represented the first stage of a bride’s life — innocence — and were part of a succession that included the bride’s maids, the bride, and the mother of the bride, each representing a different stage of a woman’s life. Per Gage, instead of toting plants, they “carried a silver chalice known as a ‘bride’s cup.'”
