Timeless Wedding Traditions Explained

By Author: May Yeates
Total Articles: 16
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The original line goes: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe.

How many times have we heard this line being used? And how many brides do we know who meticulously followed it? Not so much for the superstitious aspect of it, but it has become a charming way of honoring tradition.

Said to have originated in England during the Victorian era, the idea was for the bride to bring as much luck into her married life as she can by wearing something old, new, borrowed and blue on her wedding day.

“Something old” is a way to keep her family with her as she begins a new one. “Something new” symbolizes new beginnings for her. “Something borrowed” is an item lent to her by a family member or friend who has had luck and contentment in her married life.

“Something blue” on the other hand has so many legends. One school of thought said that it was patterned after the Roman tradition where brides wore blue to embody love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity, meanwhile, attributes it to the Virgin Mary, which is an emblem of purity. In the ...
... 19th century, wedding gowns used to be blue to follow the proverb, “Marry in blue, lover be true.”

The unknown part of the poem about a sixpence represents wealth and financial security. Some brides still do follow this who knows about this old English tradition and wear a dime or a penny in their left shoe.

What are the other timeless traditions we follow in weddings and what do they mean?

Wedding

The word wedding came from the Greek and Old English word meaning “to pledge”. Basically that’s what weddings are: a pledge of two people for their eternal love for each other.

White Wedding Dress

It’s very common to use white as the color for a wedding dress. We know it as characterizing purity and virginity. But the truth of the matter is white only became a rage for wedding gowns when Queen Victoria used this color for her wedding. It’s now a tradition that’s hard to break.

The Veil

Weddings are happy occasions and just like any envious being, whether living or in spirit, some wants to ruin this cheery event. It was said that evil spirits usually target brides to wreak havoc in the affair, thus the veil is used to hide the brides from them.

Other stories say it was the Victorian era that popularized veils which are said to mean modesty and chastity. Veils were also the originator of the tradition wherein the groom can’t see her bride before the wedding. The veil was used to hide her from him until the time he says I do.

Flowers

You’d think that flowers are just to beautify the church and the tables at the wedding reception. It also adds fine-looking accessory to the bride as she walks down the aisle. But, like most things, it has a story to it. The most quixotic one is that knights used to wear his lady’s color or handkerchief on his person for good luck. It’s for this reason that when they marry, the groom’s buttoner would pattern the color to his buttons as well as the flowers in the bride’s bouquet.

These charming stories about weddings give us more reasons to get married. Don’t you think?

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