How did the wedding tradition of the maid/matron of honor come about, and where did it originate?

Answer 1

During the 'marriage by capture' era, the loyal tribesmen and close friends of the groom within the tribe aided him to invade the enemy territory to capture his bride. While he dashed off with her, his friends stayed behind to fend off or fight the brides outraged relatives. Such were the first ushers and best man. The maid of honor and the bridesmaids, as they are known today, can also be traced back through the centuries to Saxon England. The senior among them would attend the bride for several days before the wedding. She was especially responsible for the making of the bridal wreath, the decorations for the wedding feast, and for dressing the bride.

Answer 2

I remember once read (not sure where) that in order to prevent demons and other evil spirits from coming after the bride on her wedding day some of her female friends would pretend to be brides thus confusing the evil spirits and allowing the bride to marry in peace. Thus the birth of bridesmaids.

Answer 3

They were there to confuse demons/spirits from getting at the bride. They used to wear dresses very similar to the bride but now they just wear the same dress as eachother and the bride stands out.
Flowers that the flower girl dropped were to scare them away as well.
Bouqets were to scare them away as well as mask the smell of old time brides that bathed once a month or so.
The bride stands/kneels on the grooms left so that he had access to his sword (right-handed) to fight off people who wanted to re-capture the bride.
Carrying the bride over the threshold also was to prevent demons from grabbing on to her.
interesting stuff I came across...