The Babylonians swear they were drinking mead when the rest of the world hadnt even been discovered. Both the Greeks and the Romans deny such a possibility. And the Irish state, unequivocally, before the Irish Mead, there was no mead. Say, what you will, though, mead has always been part of the wedding tradition.

There is the story, totally unprovable as most of these stories are, that part of the deal of taking his daughter off his hands, the Babylonian groom expected his dad-in-law, to provide him with mead for a month after his marriage. Dont ask me why a father would do that, but there you go.

What seems uncontroversial, however, is that mead had wonderful properties, even though it affected different people in different ways.

There is that old story, originating thousands of years ago, when Cleisthenes was trying to marry off his daughter to the most talented young Turk around. So, at a feast of notables minus the young woman, fortunately - the two favoured suitors, Megacles and Hippocleides, were given their heads to impress Cleisthenes with their talents.

Hippocleides, knowing he was the favored contender, really let himself go. First, he showed off his musical abilities by playing the flute. Then he sang a few ditties. And then, to round off the night, he began to dance. There was no doubt, that as far as the girls father was concerned, Hippocleides was the one.

Unfortunately, all this activity was a thirsty work, and as he loved his mead, as the night wore on, he became more and more merry, and would you believe, he reached the stage where the ordinary dancing would just not do. So, like the rap dancers of today, he jumped on the table, did a few tap steps, then with his head on the table, started kicking his legs in the air.

Now this was extraordinarily talented and everyone would have found much to admire in these antics, except for one thing. Those were the days when men didnt wear trousers, just little tunics with very little if anything - underneath. So, in the end, mead was his undoing, and the girl ended up with second best.

Vlady Peters

Vlady Peters is an Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant performing weddings, naming, renenewal of vows and commitment ceremonies both for Australian citizens and for overseas couples visiting friends and relatives in Australia.

She is the author of two traditionally published books, "The Complete Book of Australian Weddings" and "The Small Organisation Handbbook" and is in the process of releasing two ebooks dealing with weddings and honeymoons.

Her major interest is research into customs and traditions of weddings.

By going back to the roots of customs, she believes couples can more clearly differentiate between what is essential in a wedding ceremony, and what is merely a personal preference.

This allows them to choose a ceremony reflecting their own situation within the framework of legal requirements.

Vlady has a bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Government, and has studied the writing of novels and romances. She has written children picture books as well as novels.

She is a member of Queesland Civil Marriage Celebrants - the largest Civil Marriage Celebrants Association in Australia - as well as member of Celebrants' Training Association.

She is also a member of Australian Authors, as well as Romance Writers Association where for a number of years she was the Convenor of the prestigious Emma Darcy Award - Australia's leading Lady of Romance.