7 Common Wedding Superstitions and their Explanations!

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life! After months and months of the stress of planning your wedding, it’s finally time to let loose and have fun celebrating with family and friends and tying the knot with the love of your life. Part of the fun of the big day is taking part in those wedding superstitions you’ve always heard. You know, the ones like, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” You might find yourself scrambling last minute because you forgot your “something blue,” tasking your bridesmaids to find not just something but anything blue! It’s SO important! I mean…right? Everyone certainly says so, but does anyone even know why?

These little wedding superstitions are fun to entertain and are mostly adhered to these days just for kicks. But the truth is that each one has a history and reason behind it that various cultures used to strictly believe in. These little traditions we take lightly now were once highly important in more superstitious times. So we thought it would be enlightening to go back and explain the reasons behind some of these common wedding traditions we take part in, whether you’re superstitious, not superstitious at all, or maybe just “a little ‘stitious.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0nR1onJsE

Here are 7 common wedding superstitions and their explanations.

1. Old, new, borrowed, and blue
2. …AND a sixpence in her shoe!
3. No peeking before the wedding
4. Rain on the wedding day
5. Cry those tears!
6. Along came a spider…
7. Cutting out knives as gifts

1. Old, new, borrowed, and blue

We thought we’d kick off this list of wedding superstitions with probably the most popular, a traditional rhyme insisting that the bride wears on her person “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” Everyone does it, but what does each item mean?

• Something old: This item is said to represent the passing away of the bride’s old life as a single woman in preparation for her new happily married life. Some interpretations also suggest this item represents protection for the baby to come.

• Something new: This item represents the new union and good luck in the upcoming married life.

• Something borrowed: The important caveat to this item is that it should not simply be a borrowed item, but one borrowed from a happily married woman. The significance of this is that some of the good fortune of the happy marriage will transfer to your own.

• Something blue: The blue item is said to signify the characteristics of fidelity and love in the couple’s marriage.

2. …AND a sixpence in her shoe!

Okay, so everyone knows the previous wedding superstition of the rhyme with the 4 big ones. But did you know that the rhyme doesn’t stop there but actually ends with, “…and a sixpence in her shoe”? It’s a shame that out of all the wedding superstitions more people don’t capitalize on this one, because this item is said to help bring the promise of financial good fortune into the marriage. Since a sixpence is an antiquated coin, a simple penny will satisfy the task. 

Walking around with a penny in your shoe might not sound like the most comfortable thing ever. But whether or not you’re superstitious, with the hope of financial good luck in your marriage…why not!?

3. No peeking before the wedding

We all know one of the most famous wedding superstitions that it’s considered bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. But have you ever stopped to wonder why? It turns out that this wedding superstition is a remnant from the old days when arranged marriages were prominent. In fact, this tradition goes hand-in-hand with one of the main reasons veils are part of the standard bridal getup. 

Back in those days, it was common for the betrothed members of an arranged marriage to have never met before. The rather awkward truth is that the parents of the bride would go to lengths to keep the bride hidden before the marriage was complete lest the groom finds her unattractive and decide to back out. (Yikes!) 

Although arranged marriages do still happen, this is not an issue today for much of modern society. Thankfully, many of us get to choose our own partners and spend plenty of time looking at each other before we say “I do.” However, the tradition of waiting until the ceremony to see the bride in her wedding gown still holds. And we’re not upset about that, because it makes the moment of that big reveal as you walk down the aisle extra special.

4. Rain on the wedding day

What if we told you that one of the wedding superstitions you may not know about might have you actually hoping for rain on your wedding day? Yup, you read that correctly! Instead of stressing about it raining on your wedding day, many people believe you should welcome it! This is because in some cultures it is considered good luck for it to rain on your wedding day, as it signifies fertility and cleansing of the past. And that sounds good to us! 

So maybe nix that outdoor wedding and gambling with the weather and choose a dependable and attractive wedding venue instead. Then on your wedding day, you can sit back and relax if those storm clouds start rolling in, being at ease with the good omen rather than scrambling to change plans. 

5. Cry those tears!

Let’s be honest. There aren’t many dry eyes at a wedding. But that’s a good thing! Not only because of sweet emotions but because it’s also one of the wedding superstitions that signifies good luck! According to some people, when the couple cries on their wedding day it represents the final shedding of all tears before a tear-free and happy marriage. So go ahead and cry as much as you want to! Just don’t forget to make the switch to waterproof makeup.

6. Along came a spider…

Some of you are already cringing at just the mention of wedding superstitions involving a spider, so having one crawl up your wedding dress is a hard pass. However, according to English folklore, it is considered a good omen for a spider to show up on your gown on your wedding day. So maybe even if you’re cringing on the inside, try to grin and bear it and give little Charlotte a chance if she shows up!

7. Cutting out knives as gifts

To be honest, if you do any amount of cooking you understand how important a good set of sharp, quality knives can be. And also how expensive they can be. This makes a top-of-the-line knife set a popular registry item. However, you might want to think twice about including them in yours. 

According to wedding superstitions that go all the way back to Viking legends, knives symbolize the cutting or breaking of a relationship and are therefore considered bad luck to receive as a wedding gift. Yikes! That’s definitely not the juju you want for your wedding. However, if you are a little bit superstitious but really want those knives, a sneaky way of getting around this one is to send a penny or a dollar along with the thank you card. Essentially, this makes the item a purchase rather than a gift, removing yourself from the parameters of receiving the bad luck. Like we said…sneaky!

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