Popular Wedding Traditions Explained

Weddings are steeped in traditions, which if followed will bring the new wedded couple love, luck and happiness. Who knows if they work, but most couples will sample a few (or all) of the traditions to make sure they have a successful marriage!

Here are the most popular wedding traditions and where they originate from:

• A white wedding dress (or a shade of white) is normally worn by brides on their big day it signifies purity, innocence and a wholesome goodness which radiates from wearing the colour. Wearing white became popular in the 19^th Century by Queen Victoria, she broke away from royal protocol of wearing dark colours and stood out from the crowd in a dazzling white lace dress. Ever since the colour has been a popular choice for brides.

 

• After the big celebrations of the day the bride normally tosses the bouquet into a sea of outstretched hands, as the lucky lady who catches it is meant to be next in line to walk down the aisle into wedded bliss. You may be asking why the bride does this with such an ornamental piece of floristry? Well, it dates back hundred of years to when guests would try to tear a piece of the bride’s dress or flowers for good luck. This could get quite rowdy, so the tossing of the bouquet became an easier tradition to uphold.

 

• Once the wedding vows have been spoken it is customary to throw confetti over the happy couple this has stemmed back from the time when rice used to be showered over the bride and groom to symbolise fertility and good luck. However, the tradition dates way back to the Roman age when they would throw wheat or oat seeds to symbolise the couple having lifelong happiness.

 

 

• Cutting the Wedding cake is such a memorable moment of the day it is right up there with the ‘first kiss’ or ‘first dance’ and is a great photograph opportunity of the couple encountering one of their first tasks together. Historically the bride would cut the cake on her own to symbolise her loss of innocence, but the tradition has moved with the times becoming an unforgettable moment for both bride and groom.

 

• This tradition has been followed for centuries when the father (or another important family figure) walks the bride down the aisle this dates back to when the father would be giving his daughter away as she moves from her family to the grooms. Times have evolved and walking down the aisle together is more for an act of support to the joining of the two families and it is a wonderful moment between father and daughter to share forever.

 

 

• Many couples follow the tradition of not seeing their partner the night before the wedding as it is deemed bad luck if you do. This tradition stems back to pre-18^th century times when weddings were arranged and the father of the bride would not want the groom to see his daughter until the final moment saying their wedding vows.

 

• ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, (a sixpence in your shoe)’ this traditional English 19^th century rhyme outlines what a bride should wear or bring on her wedding day for good luck. ‘Something old’ represents something important from the past. ‘Something new’ is looking forward to the future bringing hope for the couple, ‘something borrowed’ normally from a happily married family member or good friend which is meant to bring luck and ‘something blue’ which wards away evil and stands for love. The last part of the rhyme is not really said anymore but it was thought a sixpence tucked away in your shoe would bring wealth for the couple. Nowadays many brides incorporate a couple of the items together for example a new, blue garter or a borrowed, old (even blue) piece of jewellery from a family member.

There are so many wedding traditions out there, this is just a small round up of a few. Traditions will move and evolve with the times so don’t get in a flap about having to follow each one to the letter. Just incorporate the ones that you feel work for your wedding day and if you don’t want to include any then that is totally fine!