Happy Halloween!

If you’re looking for the best place to hide this halloween, take some reading along with you! In our latest blog post, we investigate some of the spookiest wedding superstitions.

Find out how Brides used to keep unwelcome evil spirits away, and why you should want it to rain on your wedding day…

SUPERSTITION NO 1: Something blue…

We’ve all heard the saying “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”, but where does it come from?

The something old represents the bride’s past and the something new represents her future. You should have something borrowed from a happily married friend hoping that their good fortune will rub off on you, and the something blue represents loyalty and love.

I didn’t opt to follow this tradition but we’ve heard of lots of lovely ways of incorporating it in your day if you do want to follow it.

At one of our consultations last week, a bride told us that she will be wearing blue shoes on her wedding day to cover the ‘Something blue’. This means she will be able to wear them again after the Big Day whereas a white pair would not be as useful afterwards. We love this idea! Especially as she points out that “no-one sees the shoes under your dress unless you want them to”. She also told us about a friend of hers who carried a tiny framed picture of her beloved nan in her bouquet who had sadly passed away a few weeks prior.

SUPERSTITION NO 2: Wearing a veil

The bride’s veil dates back to ancient Rome and is “the oldest part of the bridal ensemble,” according to wedding historian Susan Waggoner.

The veil was worn to hide the bride away from evil spirits who might want to ruin her happiness.

Again, this is a tradition that I didn’t follow and I’m pleased to say that Mark and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage next year, so there can’t be too many evil spirits out to get me. However, the veil can make for some pretty spectacular pictures as you can See from this one taken by Two-D Photography from the wedding of Laura and Ryan Chesters earlier this year. We helped them out with all of their stationery and we love seeing beautiful pictures from the Big Day.

SUPERSTITION NO 3: Rain, rain go away…

Or maybe not, if you want a happy marriage! Whilst most of us wish for the perfect weather on our wedding day, if it rains on your Big Day, it’s supposed to bring you luck!

I have to admit, I was quite cross when it drizzled on the morning of my wedding in August 2009, but luckily it brightened up beautifully in the afternoon. One of my favourite memories from my day is sitting in the car with my dad at the top of the hill outside the village where I was getting married. We were (surprisingly) early and had stooped for a moment or two and on the radio came the song “bring me sunshine” just as the sun came out. We’d driven a specific route that my late grandmother always used to drive and I swear that it was her telling me she was watching 🙂

Anyone who has tried to untie a wet knot will know how difficult this is, and the theory is that if it rains when you are ‘tying the knot’ your marriage will be harder to break!

Take a look at some of our tying the knot invitations – we promise to keep them dry!

In some cultures, rain on your wedding day symbolises cleansing and fertility, so watch out for the pitter patter of little feet in nine months time if you encounter rain on your wedding day!

SUPERSTITION NO 4: Carrying the Bride Over the Threshold

Like most superstitions, This dates back to medieval times and there are a couple of theories out there as to why the groom would pick up his bride and carry them into their new home. Apparently, bride’s were vulnerable to evil spirits getting into them through the soles of their feet, so the groom would carry her over the threshold to avoid the sneaky spirits entering the building.

Another theory was to prevent demons from tripping the bride over as she walked into her new home for the first time.

SUPERSTITION NO 5: Ringing Bells

The ringing of church bells has its roots in Ireland, where they were traditionally chimed in Irish churches to keep evil spirits away. My brother got married in Killarney in the beautiful county of Kerry in South West Ireland back in 2006, although I don’t think his Irish Bride Teresa was superstitious enough to carry bells in her bouquet as they would have done in medieval times. You can’t beat the bells ringing on your wedding day and if you’re having a beautiful church wedding, why not incorporate a picture onto the cover of your order of service, just like we did for my baby bro.

SUPERSTITION NO 6: Ghoulish Green

We have heard it said that green is an unlucky colour for a wedding, although as with all superstitions, this should be taken with a pinch of salt. Over the years, we’ve produced some stunning stationery with varying shades of green – with sage green a firm favourite.

In 1947, a collection of folklore from the British Isles was published and in it, the folklorists explained that “The colour green is the fairies’ colour, and they would resent the wearing of it by humans at a wedding and destroy the wearer.” Makes me glad I chose yellow for my bridesmaids!

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So there you have it. Six spooky superstitions and their origins.

If you happen to be having a Halloween themed wedding or have some spooky surprises for your wedding, get in touch with us and we’ll work with you to create some suitably scary stationery!

Image Credits:

www.pexels.co.uk
www.two-d.co.uk
www.jmscreative.co.uk

References:

Hitched.co.uk
bridalguide.co.uk
marthastewartweddings.com