Traditional wedding customs & superstitions

Weddings are something which has many superstitions and customs associated with them, some dating back hundreds of years, one of the oldest superstitions says that weddings are a time when people are more susceptible to bad luck and evil spirits are said to gather. Many of these superstitions are known the world over and are still used today while others vary from different parts of the world.

Perhaps the one superstition that comes to everyone’s mind will be:

Something old, something new.

Something borrowed, something blue.

This saying is thought to state back to Victorian times and very often in some parts of the world the words “and a silver sixpence in your shoe” are added, something old was usually a garter worn by an older happily married woman she then passed this onto the bride in the hopes that her marriage would be as happy and lasting as hers.

Something new symbolises the couples happy future together while something borrowed would be something lent to the bride that meant a great deal to a family member and which the bride then returned to seal the fortune of good luck.

Something blue originated from the custom of a bride wearing a blue ribbon in her hair which represented fidelity. The sixpence in the shoe meant that the couple had good fortune throughout their marriage.

Carrying the bride across the threshold

The tradition of carrying the bride across the threshold of their new home is thought to be related to luck, if the bride walks over the threshold and trips then bad luck will befall the couple, therefore the groom carries his bride over.

The honeymoon

Honeymoons are thought to date back to times when a man would capture his bride and steal her away; the couple would hide from the bride’s father before getting married and remain in hiding for a further one cycle of the moon, during this time they would drink honey wine.

Confetti

This tradition stems from the Italians, confetti is the name for sweets in Italian and this is what they used to throw over the bride and groom to wish them luck and a prosperous future together.

Throwing of the bridal bouquet

It is traditional for the bride to throw her bouquet over her shoulder to the waiting single girls; tradition says that the girl who catches the bouquet will be the next to be married.

The wedding veil

Tradition says that a veil is used to cover the brides face to help to protect her from malevolent spirits and bad luck on the wedding day, once the bride has taken her vows and is declared married the bad spirits cant interfere with the ceremony and the veil can be lifted.

Looking in the mirror before leaving the house

If the bride takes a look in the mirror before leaving the house to be married then good luck will be with her, however once the bride has done this then she shouldn’t see her own reflection again in a mirror after leaving the house until after the ceremony.