Wedding Day Myths and History

November 30, 2016

I was in my car and Alanis Morissette’s song Ironic came on and I found myself turning the volume up and singing along especially to the words “It’s like raaaaain on your wedding day!” (if you didn’t sing that when you read it I’m severely disappointed!) And somewhere around the second verse I began to think… Why is rain on your wedding day a sign of bad luck? I mean an inconvenience is definitely a possibility especially if your wedding is outside, but who decided that, and the answer is your mind! In many cultures (yes I did some research for this post please hold in your gasps!) rain is actually considered good luck because rain symbolizes fertility and cleansing! So this got the wheels in my head turning and I wanted to know what other superstitions people had on their wedding day, and I couldn’t help but think of some of the wedding day myths that I’ve heard at the many weddings I have had the privilege of being a part of!

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Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Somehing Blue: 

That is something that almost everyone who is anyone knows about and for some reason everyone just follows that without question! While I don’t know why you need something New  (I assume it’s because who doesn’t want an excuse to buy something) or something borrowed, something old and something blue have really interesting meanings behind them! Something Blue represents fidelity and love, while many brides wear Something Old as a reminder to stay connected to their past while moving into their future!

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The Veil:

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As a hairstylist one of the very last things we do is place the veil on the brides head (most don’t want to risk messing up their hair) but veils are actually a very vital part of your wedding day attire. Thanks to the Ancient Greeks and Romans veils were believed to protect the bride from evil spirits and they have been worn ever since!

Flowers:

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The reason that the bride carrries flowers down the aisle started because back in the day showers were not common place (I would die if I didn’t have my amazing shower) so brides used that as a way to ensure that they didn’t smell as they pledged their lives to their new husband and it was just a tradition that continued on.

The Dress (aka the most important part):

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Just last week we talked about how people are shying away from the typical white wedding dress and moving on to pops of color like yellow (I saw a grey one the other day and was obssessed) and in many ways this is taking us back in time to England. Brides used to just wear their very best dress on their wedding day and it wasn’t until Queen Victoria wore a white dress that the white wedding dress actually started.

The Rings:

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Rings can be worn on any finger, by why is your wedding ring worn on the ring finger of your left hand. Well it was once thought that the vein in the finger led directly to the heart. However that is not true, but everyone knows that a ring on that finger means paws off!

Wedding Cakes:

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Teired cakes weren’t always a thing (which is a little sad because waiting cakes are gorgeous!) but the tiered cakes came from a game where the bride and groom would attempt to kiss over a cake that conintiously got higher without knocking it over. That’s not exactly a tradition any longer (the kissing until it fell over) and thankfully so because those tend to be a little pricey and a whole lot of good.

Carrying The Bride Over The Threshold: 

 

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I know it seems a little insane that Alanis Morisette’s song prompted me into knowing all of these things, but knowledge is power and isn’t it interesting to know how the things that almost EVERYONE does during their wedding came from? Cakes, Flowers, Dresses, Veils, and being treated like a queen…. I mean who could really complain about any of those things.

Special Thank you to Nicki Metcalf and Audrey Rose for photographing our lovely brides

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