Wedding Feature

Old traditions said to bring good luck and happiness!

There are many customs and superstitions surrounding weddings and it is surprising how we follow them, almost to the letter.  Here are some of the main ones.

Best month to get married
June is considered a lucky month because it is named after Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage.  May is thought to be an unlucky month. A December wedding with snow is said to ensure your true love will last.  But, marry in Lent and you could live to repent – being a time of abstinence, it was thought that Lent was an inappropriate time for a wedding.

Signature
The bride should not practise writing her new name before the wedding.

What to wear
Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in your shoe

Wedding dress
It is thought unlucky for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress until she arrives at the ceremony. The bride should not wear her complete outfit before the wedding day.  Another superstition is that it is unlucky for the bride to make her own wedding dress.
The tradition to marry in white is symbolic of maidenhood.  Silver used to be the traditional colour for royal brides.  Queen Victoria broke the tradition by wearing white.  A green dress is thought to be unlucky unless the bride is Irish.

Flowers
Flowers are a traditional part of a wedding ceremony.  Orange blossom signifies purity and chastity; azaleas represent temperance: roses symbolise love; snowdrops represent hope. Peonies represent shame.

The groom often chooses a flower for his buttonhole, which also occurs in the bride’s bouquet. This tradition goes back to the time when a knight would wear his lady’s colours as a measure of his love for her.

On the way to the ceremony
When the bride is ready to leave the house, a last look in the mirror will bring good luck, but returning to the mirror will result in bad luck.

Good luck omens include chimney sweeps, lambs, spiders, toads, black cats and rainbows if seen on the way to the ceremony.  Apparently you can hire a chimney sweep these days!

Close your eyes if you are likely to see an open grave, a lizard or a pig along the route as these are said to bring bad luck.

Bad weather on the way is thought to be an omen of an unhappy marriage, although in some cultures rain is considered a good sign. Cloudy skies and wind are believed to cause stormy marriages. Snow is associated with fertility and wealth.

Wedding cake
The cutting of the cake by the couple is said to symbolize their shared future.  It used to be a custom to crumble cake over the bride’s head to promote fertility.  In Yorkshire, a plate holding a wedding cake was thrown from the window as the bride returned to her parental home after the wedding.  If the plate broke, her future would be happy.  If it remained intact, her future would be grim. The top tier of the cake is often kept by couples for the christening of their first child.

Confetti
Confetti is Italian for sweets, which in Italy are thrown over the couple as they leave the church in that same way that we use paper confetti.

Before the use of paper confetti the married couple were showered with flowers, petals, rice or grains. This was to bestow prosperity and fertility.

Shoes
Tying a pair of shoes to the back of the newlywed’s car is said to be lucky. 

Throwing of the bouquet
After the reception, the unmarried female guests group together behind the bride and she throws her bouquet over her shoulder. The lucky lady who catches the bouquet will be the next one in the group to marry.  This tradition can cause a bit of a bun fight, so make sure there is nothing breakable in the vicinity.

Lucky charm
The best man should arrange for the groom to carry a small mascot or charm in his pocket on the wedding day.  When paying the church minister’s fee, the best man should pay an odd amount for luck.

Crossing the threshhold
After the wedding the bride must enter her new home through the main entrance and tradition dictates that the groom must carry her over the threshhold.

Generally these traditions and customs are maintained in the belief that they will bring good luck and happiness to the couple and for this reason they are handed down from generation to generation.

And here are a last few  interesting customs from elsewhere in the world
In Sudan and other areas along the Nile a man must pay his wife’s family in sheep or cattle for the loss of their daughter’s labour in support of the family. A wife may cost a man as many as 30 to 40 head of cattle. Often it is difficult to pay the family yet still have enough cattle left to support his new wife.

In Somalia a man is allowed to have as many as four wives if he can support them all, and it is not uncommon for a girl to be engaged before she is even born.

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