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Bridebook’s 10 Favourite Wedding Traditions
1) Something old…
All brides know that the “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” is a must have for your wedding day. The old represents the bride’s past, the new is her bright future. Something borrowed should be from someone happily married, in the hope that the good luck will rub off on the bride. And the blue is connected to fidelity and love!
2) The Wedding Veil
The tradition of wearing a wedding veil originated in Rome, so that a bride can hide from the evil spirits who envy and want to steal her newly-wed happiness. Scary stuff! (If you want help choosing your veil – have a look here)
3) Rain
Rain on your wedding day is believed to symbolise fertility and, according to Hindus, is good luck! It also makes for awesome photos, so get your wellies on.
4) The Threshold
The tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold originated in Medieval Europe, where it was believed that the bride was extra vulnerable to evil spirits from the soles of her feet! (Believable if she spent the whole day in heels!)
5) Tears of joy
Feeling teary on your wedding day? Don’t worry, it is believed that if a bride cries, she will have used up all her tears for years to come and will have a very happy marriage! Our advice: make sure you use waterproof mascara!
6) The Garter
Believe it or not, there’s actually some meaning in throwing the wedding garter. In France, it was believed that a piece of the bride’s dress carried good luck, so to stop the crowd rushing at the bride and ripping off parts of her dress, some inventive individual decided to distract them with a thrown garter! Apparently it worked a treat.
7) The Honeymoon
Did you know that the honeymoon wasn’t always the much-needed down time after the highly emotional wedding day. The idea of a honeymoon originated from the groom abducting the bride of his choosing. Through decades, this tradition became much more fun-filled, where the newlyweds would hide away for thirty (yes thirty!) days and each day a close relation would bring them honeyed wine. Why not go old school and have a honeymoon like that?!
8) Decorating The Wedding Car
Does tying cans to your wedding car seem like a silly idea? It didn’t to the French gents, who punished the groom for taking a single girl from them by noisily waking him up in the middle of the night and demanding a feast.
9) The Rings
Ever wondered why the wedding ring is worn on the fourth finger of your left hand? The tradition comes from the romantic Romans. They believed that a vein ran directly from the fourth finger of the left hand to your heart, with the circle of the wedding ring symbolising eternal love. (Awwwww).
10) The Best Man
The speech-giving best man of the twenty-first century originated in Anglo-Saxon times, where a groom would abduct his chosen bride and to defend himself from the bride’s family, he would take his strongest and closest male friend as a partner in crime!
Happy Planning!
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