Wedding Traditions for Couples

The wedding traditions which we are all familiar with have descended to modern couples over hundreds if not thousands of years. These superstitions often became popular as ways of giving the couple both a blessing and tokens of good luck. In that way, they are often superstitious in nature. As you think about your wedding, reflect upon these traditions simply as fun curiosities and in no way as an omen of either bad or good luck.

Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

Many of us have heard of the rhyme, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." This popular saying for what the bride is to wear comes to us from the Victorian era. "Something Old" would probably represent the bond a bride has with the family she is leaving. "Something New" most likely is related to the new life she will be celebrating with her husband and his family. A bride wears "Something Borrowed", is usually taken from a happily married woman, which is likely to bring prosperity to her own new marriage. "Something Blue" likely is a symbol which represents the bride's desire for faithfulness and success inside her new marriage.

Wedding Dresses for Brides

The first known example of a white wedding dress was given in 1499, when Anne of Brittany wore white for her marriage to Louis XII of France. Until then, women simply wore their nicest attire.

This tradition also has roots coming from biblical times, because the "Church" was described as wearing in a white dress as a symbol of its purity as the "Bride of Christ." Christian women often hold that a bride should not wear white if she is entering a second marriage or if she is not pure. This is an curious superstition because the "purity" of the church is actually supposed to come from Christ.

In the orient brides have traditionally worn white. In early Roman times, white symbolized a celebration filled with happiness. Obviously, it is today a symbol of happy bliss and a new beginning from other cultures.

The Bride's Wedding Veil

The wedding veil wasn't originally white as is the modern tradition for most of today's nuptials. In early Greece it was yellow. In Roman times the dress would often would be red. Much of the symbolism has been lost but having a veil is still quite popular. Originally, the veil was another symbol for a bride's purity, and of course her virginity.

Many people believe today that according to tradition, it is a bad omen for the bride to be seen by her husband to be before the ceremony. Remember that in history there were so many arranged marriages, it was often likely that the groom would not view his bride until the moment of ceremony. In some traditions, the veil hid the woman until the groom lifted it to discover what his new wife looked like.

In the United States, Nelly Curtis wore a veil at her nuptials to Major Lawrence Lewis who was General George Washington's aid. The Major had earlier seen his bride standing behind a filmy curtain and after he commented how beautiful she was, Nelly then decided to veil herself for their ceremony.

Follow whatever traditions feel right to you, not because of any worry about causing bad luck. More importantly, create your own traditions, composing the meanings you desire them to have, which you can then leave to your descendants.

We see all of these traditions used by our couples when they come to Hawaii and use our Maui weddings services. It doesn't matter if the ceremonies are on the beach or performed in a chapel, the traditions seem to remain the same. I should tell you that for Hawaii weddings, you don't have to follow any traditions but your own.