Seven Common Wedding Superstitions
Alanis Morissette notwithstanding, rain on your wedding day isn’t actually ironic. However, it could be a sign of things to come. Here’s more info on that and other common wedding practices, traditions and superstitions.
Rain on Your Wedding Day
There are two schools of thought when it comes to rainy wedding–day lore. The first holds that the rain is an auspicious sign of fertility, growth and cleansing. On the other hand, some cultures believe that the rain represents all the tears the bride is going to cry during the marriage. This could be especially problematic when the couple marrying are both brides!
And a Sixpence in Your Shoe
You’re probably familiar with the bride needing “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue” on her wedding day. But you may not know that the rhyme actually ends with “and a sixpence in her shoe.”
Keeping a penny in your shoe will bring your marriage prosperity. Let’s be progressive and let the groom keep a penny in his shoe, too — the brides often have enough to contend with in the shoe department.
Getting Married on the Right Day
An old Celtic poem says of your prospective wedding day, “Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday the best day of all, Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, and Saturday no luck at all.”
Weeknight weddings are becoming more popular, as more guests may have weekend plans of their own. If you can’t swing a Wednesday, definitely aim for Monday or Tuesday just to be on the safe side.
There Goes the Bride
You’re probably familiar with the tradition of the groom carrying the bride across the threshold of their home, but you may not know the origins of that custom. It was once believed that if the bride tripped over the threshold, the marriage would be visited by nothing but bad luck. The groom carrying the bride eliminates that possibility.
Wearing a White Dress
The bride’s choice of a white dress is believed by some to be a symbol of purity and innocence. However, the origins come from an old verse about the results of wearing different colors of dress.
“Married in white, you will have chosen all right. Married in gray, you will go far away. Married in black, you will wish yourself back. Married in red, you’ll wish yourself dead. Married in blue, you will always be true. Married in pearl, you’ll live in a whirl. Married in green, ashamed to be seen. Married in yellow, ashamed of the fellow. Married in brown, you’ll live out of town. Married in pink, your spirits will sink.”
The Bride Unveiled
In the ancient Greek and Roman cultures, it was believed that evil spirits and jealous witches would cast curses and hexes on the unsuspecting bride to try to steal away her happiness. The veil was worn to prevent those curses and hexes from landing.
In other cultures, though, the veil served another purpose. In arranged marriages, where the bride and groom had never met, the parents of the newlyweds-to-be wanted to keep the bride’s face hidden until the last possible moment to prevent the groom from rejecting his new wife.
Wearing Waterproof Mascara
When a bride or groom cries during their wedding, it’s often viewed as an auspicious sign. They’re believed to be shedding all the tears they have so that their marriage will have none.
Whether or not you believe in wedding-day superstitions is largely irrelevant. You know that your marriage will be what you both make of it, regardless of rain, pennies, weekend weddings, falling down, wearing a different colored dress, donning a veil or tears.
