"Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue
and a silver sixpence in your shoe."
There are all sorts of wedding superstitions and customs. In this old rhyme the bride is supposed to incorporate all these items into her wedding attire and wedding accessories. It is all quite symbolic.
Something old represents the closeness of the couple to family and friends – bringing them along into their new lives. Something new is the couple’s new unity and happy future. Something borrowed is representative of the bride’s ties to her family often represented by an heirloom that preserves continuity despite her new state. Something blue means a touch of royalty, since blue bloods are royals, and the bride and groom are the king and queen of the day!
A silver sixpence signifies future wishes for wealth for the couple.
Rings
The reason that the engagement ring and wedding ring are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand is because the ancient Egyptians thought that the "vein of love" ran from this finger directly to the heart. In many parts of Europe the rings are worn on the right hand’s ring finger. Greek Orthodox ceremonies exchange the rings three times during the ceremony and they end up on the right finger, however, most couples switch them to the left as soon as the wedding ceremony is done.
Dress Color
Most brides today marry in white wedding dresses which symbolize purity and virginity. Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in white instead of silver, the traditional color of royal brides. This old English rhyme offered advice on dress color and let brides choose their own shade of dress:
Married in White, you have chosen right,
Married in Blue, your love will always be true,
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in Brown, you will live in town,
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen, (except if you were Irish)
Married in Pink, your spirit will sink,
Married in Grey, you will go far away,
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back.
Customs are modified for each generation, but a little bit always stays to enrich great wedding traditions of the world.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wedding Customs
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Destination Wedding -- It's Not Eloping Anymore!
As the bridal couple, your goal is to make your wedding day a unique, memorable experience. You want to do this without all the bother and stress that a traditional wedding places on you, your families, and friends. You want to exchange your vows in a spectacular setting that fulfills your wildest dreams.
Destination weddings are a growing option for brides and grooms who desire something out of the ordinary and yet significantly their own. These weddings can be as simple as a sunset ceremony barefoot on a beach, with only a couple of attendants, or they can be elaborate as the Eva Longoria wedding in France.
Aside from those multi-million-dollar Hollywood shows, most destination weddings are cost-effective and less expensive than the full-blown affairs at home. And they can be a more relaxing and pleasant experience for all involved. You can even send wedding invitations or save-the-dates via email and save more time and money!
Planning a traditional wedding is time consuming and difficult, because there are multiple factions – parents, friends, caterers, wedding planners, casual acquaintances, florists, and a host of vendors – that have to be consulted, and often appeased. It is not only expensive as far as funds are concerned, but it also has an emotional toll on the couple as well. Some couples thrive on this activity while others find it more taxing than an IRS audit.
In the old days, the couple would often elope to avoid all the problems associated with planning a wedding. They would opt for eloping for a Las Vegas wedding, or running off to a Justice of the Peace if one were available.
My parents actually eloped to avoid all the hassle that their mothers were causing them in the constant arguments over every little detail of the wedding. My grandfather gave them money and his blessing to go to Cincinnati with my uncle as witness to “get it over with.” By the time they returned on Sunday, the mothers had already had their wind taken out of their sails and several months later the parents all threw a party for the couple. However, my grandmother never let my Mom off the hook about eloping.
The “stigma” of eloping in the middle of the night has now given way to families and friends actually encouraging a destination wedding. In many cases, the families and special guests are in different locations so they would have to travel anyway to the wedding venue, so why not have the wedding where a mini-vacation can be enjoyed by all?