Where did the german wedding tradition of kidnapping the bride from the reception come from?

i need to do a short report on a foreign wedding tradition and this one seems interesting, except it's hard to find alot of information about it. if anyone knows about the German tradition of the best man "kidnapping" the bride from the reception, could you please give some information. like how it started and what it symbolizes if anything. thanks : )

Well from what I heard it goes along the lines of: some friends of the groom decide to kidnap the bride at some point during the reception. However, the friends are only supposed to kidnap her to the next nearest bar, while another informant remains at the reception and gives the groom a hint as to where the bride could be. He then goes to get her, pays the bill for the beer or two they would have drunk in the meantime, the bride and groom go back to the wedding and everyone laughs and has a great time. This is supposed to symbolize that the husband always takes care of the wife.

These sites seem to have a bit more info on German wedding traditions, including the kidnapping of the bride.

http://www.answerbag.com/articles/What-Is-the-German-Wedding-Tradition/87a9ae78-38fb-3e0c-e8e0-a4fd84a9e3e2

http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa030601a.htm

http://www.personal.psu.edu/jld345/German.html

I have read alot about wedding traditions but have never once heard of that one. 99% of them originated in the Middle Ages and are left over from that time so people today continue to follow them but they don't understand why, and are unwilling to give them up for any reason while others they think are absolutely absurd.

I have heard that the reason that bridesmaids came into existence (and they dressed identical to the bride *oh the horror!*) was a means to distract evil spirits from kidnapping the bride. However I have never heard of anyone intentionally doing so.

I found this:

"Kidnapping of the bride - in some areas (mostly in small villages) friends kidnap the bride and the groom has to find her. Normally, he has to search in a lot of pubs and invite all people in there (or pay the whole bill). Sometimes this ritual ends badly. "

I've heard of the groom being kidnapped before, but I can't remember what culture.