Wedding Customs
Newcastle NSW : Hunter Valley Marriage Celebrant
“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a
silver sixpence on your shoe”.
Wedding customs go back to Victorian times.
Something old links the bride to her original family and life before she met the groom.
Something new symbolised success and good fortune and was usually a piece of jewellery that the groom gave to the bride.
Wearing something borrowed from another happily married woman was also considered important.
Something blue represented purity and fidelity in Biblical times .
Placing a silver sixpence on the brides left shoe was thought to bring financial wealth and happiness to the newly wed couple.
An engagement ring was part payment for the bride and showed that she had been claimed.
The veil was worn to ward off evil spirits . The Roman belief was that if the bride was hidden , the evil spirits would be warded off.
The tradition of the groom lifting the veil was so that he could check that he was actually marrying for the one he had paid for.