Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

This is an old tradition that brides wear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue, all for luck.  The old symbolizes the past and to ward off any evil spirits. The new is a sign of optimism for the future, borrowed is something borrowed from a happy person maybe another happy bride to transfer the luck to you, and blue is a symbol of purity. This comes from an old English rhyme from around the 19^th century, there is a fifth to add to it and that is “put a sixpence in your shoe”, although it may be a little harder to find a sixpence since they are a British coin that is no longer in circulation, the sixpence represents prosperity.

There are so many different traditions and superstitions from around the world that bring good luck and bad. In the Greek culture, a sugar cube inserted into the bride’s glove was believed to make the union have a much sweeter future. The English believe that if a spider is found in your wedding dress, it meant you were going to have a very lucky future, also according to the English folklore Saturday was believed to be the unluckiest day to be wed, and Wednesday was the luckiest. Imagine, Saturday is now the most popular day to be married.

In India, there is a ceremony called Mehndi, this is a tradition for the women only to get together a day earlier and paint their hands and feet with mehndi which is also known as henna. It is believed to be lucky and blessed for brides. This is a creative art that and the beautiful designs are temporary on the skin, and it is said that Indian weddings are not complete without it.

Armenian brides and grooms balance flatbreads on their shoulders to ward off evil spirits, as well as eat spoonsful of honey which symbolizes happiness. In Ireland, the brides carry a white Irish linen handkerchief embroidered with a shamrock, this is said to be very lucky. Later that same handkerchief is sewn into the bonnet of the first-born child, or into the child’s christening outfit.

Something old can be one of many things to choose from, it can be a piece of jewelry, like a brooch or necklace from a close family member. Something new can be a gift from your husband to be and something borrowed can also be a piece of jewelry or a hair accessory. The garter belt is a popular accessory for something blue, it’s used for the garter toss but a lot of brides purchase this with a blue ribbon attached, or blue shoes have been known to be worn for this tradition. If you truly want to put a sixpence in your shoe for the symbol of prosperity and cannot find one, you could replace the coin with a penny.

I hope you have found this article interesting, for more interesting articles please check out our A-Z terms guide.

 

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Artsy Vibes

Marc A. Sporys