Wedding Luck

A family member, upon hearing one of my wedding colors was green, said "Oh, green is unlucky for weddings." That was intriguing. I know white came into fashion for wedding dresses during the age of Queen Victoria and it's supposed symbol of purity/evil spirit deterrent. I know that before that girls simply wore their best dress (whatever color it happened to be). I also know blue was popular for brides and the last vestiges of that are in our somethings old, new, borrowed and blue. Green being unlucky was new to me.

Green is the color of shamrocks it should never be unlucky. I investigated and read that historically if you had green on your dress it was from rolling in the grass. Nobody wanted a loose woman who'd been rolling in the grass. Surely, your marriage would be rocky with her. What a silly, silly idea. I can't believe anyone in this day and age has even heard it.

I think I'll take my chances with green. Apparently pins are unlucky too. Isn't that wild? I read that I should throw every bobby pin I use that day in the trash. What a waste. Most of these silly things have no roots I can find and are good luck and bad luck depending on who you ask.

Here's a few I never heard before:

1. Wearing Pearls:This myth has both good and bad luck meaning. Some believe that wearing pearls represents future tears, bringing potential trouble and tears to the marriage, thus being negative. Whereas some believe that by wearing pearls, they replace the bride’s real tears and she will have a happy, tearless wedding.
2. The Bride Making her Own Dress:this is considered to be a negative myth as it was believed that for brides that made their own dresses she would shed one tear for each stitch she made.
3. Dropping the Wedding Ring:To drop the ring during the ceremony was seen to shake out any hiding evil spirits, therefore be lucky. However another version is that dropping the ring gave the ominous sign that whoever dropped it would be the first to die.
4. Crying on the Wedding Day:It is considered good luck for the bride to cry during her wedding, this means that she will have no more tears left and will not need any for the duration of her marriage. In the olden days a bride’s tears were a sign of good luck to the future crops.

The list goes on and on. It's understandable on such a nerve wracking occasion people cling to silly things like this to calm themselves. Everything will be fine if I wear the right color and get married at the right time, etc. I think it's like when I was a kid I'd get nervous when I had to turn on lights in dark rooms. I decided no monsters could get me if I flipped the switch with my back to the room. I think it's just something to occupy your racing mind and soothe the nerves.

Who knew one ritual would have so much superstition attached to it. Better not meet a pig on the way to the church, sign my married name before the wedding or get married as the minute hands are moving downward. I think I'll survive and not just because I don't live in a rural area with pigs or plan to change my name. I already know what married life is like. The commitment is there and as for the number of tears shed we've got a lot of happiness coming our way.