Wedding Myths

Maybe because weddings carry such significance in a person's life, alot of energy goes into hoping that the wedding goes off without a hitch.  Some cultures more than others, have many myths and traditions surrounding many aspects of a wedding. While thinking about my own wedding accessories for our wedding next year, I thought I would check whether pearls were bad luck.  What I found changed my mind about paying attention to myths.  I found a wealth of myths which I have put together below.  This doesn't even cover traditions which are different in many ways.  I thank USQ Artsworx, Wedding Dresses and Cakes, Life123 and Your Wedding 101.com from where I gathered all the following myths.

Proposing and Engagement

A woman should only propose to a man during a leap year, otherwise it endangers the marriage.

Engagement and wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was once thought that a vein in that finger led directly to the heart.

It is bad luck for the bride to remove her engagement ring before the day of her wedding.

Stag parties were first held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party.

"A change of name and not of letter is a change for the worse and not the better." It is considered unlucky for the bride if she marries a man having a surname that begins with the same first letter as hers.

Sign your married name before the wedding: it is considered bad luck for the bride to sign her married name before the wedding as it tempts fate.

It is unlucky to marry someone born in the same month as you.

It will bring bad luck to marry on your birthday.

It is good luck for a bride to dream of her wedding day.

The Bridal Shower

The first gift the bride opens should be the first gift she uses.

The person who gives the third gift to be opened will soon have a baby.

The Wedding Day

The bride should always be happy if she wears or carries a bit of salt.

The bridegroom should carry a horseshoe in his pocket for good luck.

Postponing a wedding is very bad luck.

It is bad luck for a bride to read the marriage service on the day before her wedding. It brings more luck if the groom arrives at the church before the bride.

It is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the actual ceremony. At the wedding, the bride should make sure she sees the groom before he sees her.

It's bad luck for the bride to start down the aisle on time. The bride should step into and out of the church with her right foot first. When stepping away from the altar she should also put the right foot first. At the altar, the bride should keep her right foot ahead of the groom's.

Saying your vows when the hour hand on the clock is going upwards makes you work together in your married life. It is also said to bring blessings upon the couple as the minute hand is "ascending towards heaven." If you say your wedding vows when the hand is going down, it is bad luck.

If the bride cries on her wedding day, those shall be the last tears she ever sheds over her marriage.

Here's another wedding myth that has both good and bad luck attached to it. As the superstition goes, dropping the wedding ring or rings, is believed to shake off evil spirits, therefore being lucky for the bride and groom. However, others believed that whoever drops the wedding ring or rings shall be the first person to die among the people who attended the wedding, making it a very bad luck. If the groom drops the wedding band during the ceremony, the marriage is doomed.

It is considered bad luck for the bride to see a pig, hare or lizard running across the road, an open grave or to meet a nun or monk on her wedding day.

Flower girls drop petals as they walk down the aisle is to ensure the new couple will have many chances to have children.

Carrying a horseshoe or a bouquet in the shape of one is considered lucky for the bride, but only if the horseshoe is carried with the open end up so the luck does not ‘fall out'.

Certain days are better than others for a wedding. The Victorians believed that it was lucky to marry on a day during the week that the groom was born. The luckiest day to marry was on the groom's actual birthday. And, oddly enough, Saturday was the unluckiest day of all for a wedding!

If it rains on the wedding day, some says that it is good luck because it represents a fertile crop or the coming of children to the marriage. In contrast, some people believe that if it rains on the wedding day, it represents the tears the bride will shed throughout her married life.

The father of the bride should pass on one of the bride's shoe to the groom which signifies that the father is giving his daughter away in marriage.

Feed a cat out of an old shoe and your wedding day will be a happy one. If a cat sneezes in front of a bride on the day before her wedding, it is a sign of very good luck.

Wedding Attire

The loan of a wedding dress means good luck to the borrower and bad luck for the lender.

The bride should avoid wearing her entire bridal outfit (wedding dress, bridal veil, shoes and jewellery) prior to her wedding day.

A veil disguises the bride from evil spirits.

A bride should have her hair dressed and veil put on by a happily married woman.

Good luck will come to a bride if her veil is accidentally torn, especially if torn at the altar.

Bad luck comes to the bride who shows her veil to anyone other than family before the wedding.

Dressing the bridesmaids is to fool the evil spirits, so they will not know who the bride is.

If the bride helps to make her own wedding dress, it will bring her bad luck. The bride should not make her own wedding dress, according to the wedding myth, every stitch the bride sews she will shed one tear during her marriage. Wearing the entire wedding outfit (dress, veil, shoe and jewellery) before the day of the marriage is forbidden as it will bring bad luck for the bride. If she rips her wedding dress on the day, it means that the marriage will end in death.

It is considered good luck if the bride finds a spider in her wedding gown.

Many believed that the wearing of pearls represents future tears, thus if the bride wears them, she'll shed tears in her entire marriage. On the other hand, since pearls represent future tears, other people believe that by wearing them, the pearl takes the place of the bride's real tears, so she'll be living a happy, tear-free marriage.

It is bad luck for the bride to eat anything while she is adorning for her marriage. Wait until after the ceremony.

After the bride is completely dressed and ready for the ceremony, she must not look into a mirror again until she is wed. The bride may dress before a mirror but should leave something off until after she walks away, like a necklace or earring.

Wear earrings when you are married and you will always be happy.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue and A Silver Sixpence in her Shoe! - This wedding myth is probably still the one that most brides-to-be do at their wedding day. The "something old" is a thing that represents the bride's past or her family, wearing a jewellery of her grandmother or mother is usually chosen as something old; The "something new" represents the bride's adulthood, and it is the wedding dress that is usually chosen as something new; The "something borrowed," believed by many, is borrowing something from a happy married couple (usually a family member) so that good luck will be bestowed upon the wedding day; The "something blue," has been in use since Victorian times, the colour blue symbolized purity, constancy and fidelity; Lastly, the "Silver Sixpence in her Shoe" represents wealth and financial security. Nowadays, sixpence is no longer common, so most brides would either purchase a symbol of this item from bridal shops or place a penny in their shoe instead.

The Wedding Cake

The bride and groom cut the first slice of cake together to ensure that they will conceive.

The chief bridesmaid should keep a piece of cake in her pocket for the duration of the couple's honeymoon, if she hopes to marry soon.

Single female guests should take home a piece of wedding cake and place it under the pillow to dream of the man they will marry.

After the Wedding

Throwing rice (or birdseed, petals, confetti or blowing bubbles) as the couple leaves the church dates back to ancient times and is meant to bestow fertility and fruitfulness on the couple.

It is considered good luck for the mother of the groom to throw a shoe at the bride as the newlyweds leave the reception. That way, the mother-in-law and the bride would forever be the best of friends.

The new bride must enter her home by the main door, and must not trip or fall, as it is a bad omen if the bride should stumble. Hence the custom of the groom carrying the bride over the threshold.

It is bad luck for the bride to put bare feet on the floor on her wedding night. Keep slippers on or have the groom carry you to bed.

The spouse who goes to sleep first on the wedding day will be the first to die.

The wedding ring is considered sacred for the bride and groom, therefore, it must not be lent to others as is may bring bad luck to the marriage, and worse, the possibility of unfaithfulness.

If the bride removes her wedding ring, it is believed that the groom must be the one to return it to her finger to continue the good luck.

An old wives' tale is that if the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never landing a husband.

It is unlucky to give away a wedding present.

The bride should drink a glass of water after the wedding ceremony.

Give the clergy an odd sum of money for good luck.

and the most important one.....

You will shed tears during your wedding preparations, be stressed throughout your wedding, and have bad memories of your wedding day if....you try and conform to all the above myths.  I say, do it your way.  Some traditions are nice but the above are only myths.  At the end of your wedding day the only thing that really matters is that you both love each other, show up and get married.

So will I be wearing pearls? Probably. Will I adhere to any other myths? Maybe just the 'Something borrowed.."  After all, I am a little old fashioned too.

Did you notice there are no myths about wedding photography? Give it 100 years and there will be. For myth-free wedding photography, call Laura from LK Photography on 0413144603.

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