We are all aware of the Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue tradition, but do we know how it came to be? Here are ten common wedding traditions and their backgrounds!
1. Bridesmaids: Women used to have bridesmaids wear the same dress as them in order to confuse evil spirits and others who wished to harm the bride.
2. The Best Man: Occasionally, the family of the bride did not approve of the marriage, so they would try to steal her during the ceremony. The best man’s duty was to make sure this did not happen, even if he had to kidnap her himself. He had to be the strongest if he had to fight off enemies.
3. The White Wedding Dress: It was custom for brides to wear red dresses. However, when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, she opted for the white dress as it signified wealth.
4. Throwing Rice: Nowadays, guests throw flower petals or light sparklers to send off the bride and groom. Back in the day, rice was thrown to shower the happy couple with good fortune, prosperity, and fertility.
5. Carrying the Bride Through the Door: It was seen as unladylike for a bride to want to leave her family’s home, so the groom would take her from the home instead. Also, there were myths that evil spirits wanted to harm the happy couple, so by picking up the bride, it created distance between her and the spirits.
6. The Wedding Cake: Grooms used to eat bread and have the crumbs fall onto the bride for good luck. Then, the guests could pick the rest up so that they too could enjoy some of the luck. This was followed by the tradition of the bride putting cake through her ring to give to guests who would then put the cake under their pillows for good luck.
7. “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue”: This tradition came about during the Victorian era in England. A bride was to wear something connected to her past (something old), something to attach her to her future with her husband (something new), take something from a happily married couple for good luck (something borrowed), and blue was related to faithfulness in a relationship (something blue).