Five Interesting Facts About Wedding Traditions

Have you ever just took a step back and questioned all the specific traditions that go into a wedding? Why must the bride wear all white? Why do we wear a ring on a specific finger? Why must we have something blue?? Turns out, some of these traditions originate all the way back to ancient times and most of these unique details are intended for good luck! Who knew how much power we placed on luck back in the day. Here are five interesting origins of current western wedding traditions.

1. A bride’s veil was seen as protection. 

Ancient Greeks and Romans heavily believed in good and bad spirits. They wanted the bride to wear a veil as a shield to protect her from evil spirits. It was a symbol of good juju as she went into her marriage. This is why the veil is not lifted until she officially says I do.

2. There’s a reason you wear your ring on your ring finger.

Wearing your engagement and wedding band on the fourth finger of your left hand started because ancient Egyptians believed it held a vein that goes directly into your heart - so cute! Now we know that every finger indeed does has a vein connecting to your heart, and there is no singular vein in the ring finger. But we still hold this tradition to this day!

3. The white wedding dress was actually a trend, not tradition.  

Of course, it’s tradition that the color white represents purity and virtue. That is a reason many western culture brides tend to choose white. But in history, white wedding dresses did not become popular until Queen Victoria wore one for her 1840 ceremony. Before that, brides just chose their best dress to wear, no matter the color. The queen’s dress of choice was heavily documented and shown in the media, which made the white wedding dress trend blow up and become the new norm.

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4. Matching bridesmaids were seen as good luck.

There were a lot of “good luck” traditions formed for weddings, and the matching bridesmaids trend was one of them. Ancient Greeks and Romans believed the matching attire would ward off evil spirits and protect the marriage. They also looked at the bridesmaids as diversions; from all the other men who would be looking at the bride. Glad to know matching colors have more than one purpose!

5. The saying “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, is an old english rhyme.

We’ve all heard this, but does anyone actually know what it means? Turns out this old rhyme carried a lot of meaning for you guessed it, more good luck. Something old represents continuing the protection of the family - past, present, and future. This is usually an heirloom from a relative. Something new brings optimism for the future of the pairing in this new relationship. Something borrowed means borrowed happiness from another happy couple to bring you that luck. And something blue was to ward off the evil eye. It stands for purity, love, and fidelity. 

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Learning the reason for all of these traditions has definitely opened our eyes to the difference in beliefs held back then and in our current life. Over the years, it is interesting to see how we as a society have made these more meaningful to our current values and mindset.