Wedding Superstitions

Many wedding superstitions date back to times when people believed the occasion made them vulnerable to both good and evil spirits.

Some of the superstitions are national or even international while other are local. The better known ones such as the bride being seen on the day of the wedding by the groom before the ceremony are still very common today. In fact many of the superstitions passed down through the ages, are now firmly established wedding traditions.

Superstitions On Weddings

Although most wedding ceremonies now take place on a Saturday it was considered unlucky in the past. Fridays were also considered unlucky particularly Friday the 13th. The famous old rhyme advises a wedding in the first half of the week:

• Monday for wealth
• Tuesday for health
• Wednesday the best day of all
• Thursday for losses
• Friday for crosses
• Saturday for no luck at all

• It is thought unlucky for the bride to make her own wedding dress.
• It is also unlucky for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before she arrives at the ceremony venue.
• The veil was originally worn by Roman brides. It was thought that it would disguise the bride and therefore outwit malevolent spirits. This is also the reason that bridesmaids are dressed similarly to the bride.
• In some Eastern ceremonies the bride is veiled and the groom is not allowed to see the bride's face until after the wedding ceremony.
• In some Jewish weddings there is a ritual where the groom ensures that the bride is his intended before placing the veil over her face.
• When the bride is ready to leave her home to go to the wedding ceremony venue a last look in the mirror will bring her good luck.
• Seeing a chimney sweep on the way to a wedding is though to bring good luck and it is still possible to hire one to attend wedding ceremonies. Other good luck omens when seen on the way to the wedding venue include lambs, toads, spiders, black cats and rainbows.
• Seeing an open grave, a pig, a lizard, or hearing a cockerel crow after dawn are all thought to be omens of bad luck. Monks and nuns are also a bad omen. This may be because they are associated with poverty and chastity. They are also though to signal a dependence on charity by the newlyweds.
• Bad weather on the way to the wedding is thought to be an omen of an unhappy marriage, although in some cultures rain is considered a good omen. Cloudy skies and wind are believed to cause stormy marriages. Snow on the other hand is associated with fertility and wealth.
• It is said that the first partner who buys a new item after the wedding ceremony will be the dominant one.
• It was though unlucky for a woman to marry a man whose surname began with the same letter as her own.
• Cutting the wedding cake is now part of the ritual celebrations at the wedding reception. The couple make the first cut together to symbolise their shared future.
• In Britain early cakes were flat and round and contained fruit and nuts which symbolise fertility.
• In the past the tradition was to throw many small cakes over the bride in a similar way in which we throw confetti today. A modification of this custom was to crumble cake over the brides head and in some versions to break the cake over the Bride's head. In Scotland Oat Cakes were used for this purpose. This was done to promote fertility.

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