We’ve come to adhere to so many traditions in wedding ceremonies but what we don’t know is that there are these charming stories behind them. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue each has a representational significance to them, along with the wedding gown, the veil and the flowers.
The original line goes: Something old,
something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe.
How frequently have we heard this line being employed? And how many brides do we know who diligently observed it? Not really much for the superstitious aspect of it, but it has turned into a charming way of remembering custom.
Said to have originated from England during the Victorian era, the concept was for the bride-to-be to take all the luck into her married life as she could by wearing something old, new, borrowed and blue on her wedding day.
“Something old” is a way to keep her family along with her as she begins a new one. “Something new” symbolizes new starts for her. “Something borrowed” is an item given to her by a family member or friend who has had success and fulfillment in her married life.
“Something blue” however has numerous legends. One way of thinking declared it was designed after the Roman tradition where brides dressed in blue to convey love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity, on the other hand, attributes it to the Virgin Mary, which is an emblem of wholesomeness. In the 19th century, wedding dresses was once blue to adhere to the proverb, “Marry in blue, lover be true.”
The unidentified part of the composition regarding a sixpence represents wealth and monetary security. Some brides still do comply with this who knows about this aged English custom and put in a dime or a penny in their left footwear.
Exactly what are the other classic traditions we abide by in weddings and what do they signify?
Wedding
The term wedding originated from the Greek and Old English term meaning “to pledge”. Basically that’s what wedding ceremonies are: a pledge of two individuals for their long lasting love for each other.
White Wedding Dress
It’s very common to use white as the color for a bridal gown. We know it as characterizing wholesomeness and virginity. But the fact is white only became a craze for wedding gowns when Queen Victoria made use of this color for her wedding. It’s now a tradition that’s hard to break.
The Veil
Wedding ceremonies are happy occasions and just like any jealous being, whether living or in spirit, some wants to ruin this cheerful occasion. It was declared evil spirits usually focus on brides to be to cause havoc in the event, thus the veil is used to conceal the brides from them.
Other tales say it had been the Victorian era that popularized veils which are said to imply modesty and chastity. Veils were also the originator of the tradition whereby the bridegroom can’t see her bride before the wedding ceremony. The veil was used to hide her from him until the time he says I do.
Flowers
You’d believe that flowers are simply to beautify the church and the dining tables at the wedding party. Furthermore, it adds fine-looking accessory to the new bride as she walks down the church aisle. But, like most things, it features a tale to it. The most quixotic one is that knights once wore his lady’s color or handkerchief on his person for good luck. It’s because of this 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 tales about wedding ceremonies provide us with more reasons to get married. Don’t you think?
