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Wedding Myths and Traditions

Press release March 26, 2012 Lifestyle

Do they still hold value in today's world?

There are many myths and traditions around weddings, the most traditional in the UK is “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue”. Where do these myths, superstitions and traditions come from and why centauries on, are they still evident in marriages.

Here is a list of some funny myths and traditions:

The Dress:                           

  • It is considered bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding, now days; this is more for an element of surprise, nothing to do with tradition. On your wedding day, the dress is the most important element for you and you want to keep it a surprise for the big day.
  • “Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue”. This saying originated from Victorian times and traditionally the old wold have been the garter of a happily married woman, with the thought of being that her good fortune would be passed on. The “New” stood for the couples bright new future, something “borrowed” was usually from the bride’s family and must be returned to ensure the luck was passed on. The something “blue” came from an ancient tradition in which the bride would wear a blue ribbon in her hair to symbolise fidelity.
  • It is classed as good luck if the bride finds a spider on her gown the day of her wedding.

The Rings:

Be it Gold, Silver, Platinum or with diamonds, the wedding rings symbolise eternal love and devotion. Here are some myths and traditions surrounding the wedding rings.

  • Dropping the ring during the ceremony is an evil omen; whoever dropped the ring is believed to die first.
  • Having the rings blessed is believed to give the rings power to rid disease and guard the wearer from evil spirits.
  • The reason the ring in the UK is placed on the left hand, on the third finger is because it is believed the vein in this finger is directly linked to the heart.

On the wedding Day:

Surname of the same first letter: it is considered unlucky for the bride to marry a man with a surname that begins with the same first letter as hers. This wedding myth is summarized in the following Victorian rhyme: "To change the name and not the letter; is to change for the worst and not the better."

Marrying at a certain time can be considered bad luck: if the hands of the clock are on their way down, this is believed to be a bad omen, but if they are on their way up all should be ok… I’m not sure how much I believe in this, people tend to get married on the hour to make it easier for guests to remember the time of the wedding.

The day and month you chose to get married also have many traditions and myths surrounding them:

Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday best of all,
Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, Saturday for no luck at all.

Considering most weddings in the UK occur on a Saturday, I don’t know how much consideration I would give to these sayings, but if you are superstitious, would you let it dictate which day you get married?

A wedding day is one of the most important days of your life, and some traditions still stand in the UK. The something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue is one that will live on for a long time and will continue to be passed from generation to generation. If you are superstitious, will you let the myths and traditions dictate your wedding or will you move with the times and take the approach of Que será será, what will be will be no matter which traditions and myths you hear?

 

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Lifestyle