What is Old, New, Borrowed and Blue?

The week is upon us...
little sister is getting married.
Appropriate comic strip called Girls &Sports by Justin Borus & Andrew Feinstein. Found on Comics.com. It is appropriate because little sister is named  Katie and new Brother is named Zach. ( I know that Zack, in the comic strip, isn't spelled the same as my future Brother in law, Zach.  You can't win them all, so I'll take what I can get).

Vintage wedding photo found in the vintage mode's etsy shop

With the impending nuptials, I will be unable to write my usual Thursday's Unique Picks post this week.
( I know. Gasp). Never fear, I thought I would take this opportunity to give you the inside scoop on some wedding traditions, superstitions and share some great items from etsy sellers that may help me to illustrate. Kind of a Unique Picks meets The More You Know...

Spotted recently in the bathroom at the Ohio Expo Center. (Don't freak, I washed my hands.)

 I bet this lady ignored those time honored wedding superstitions. Don't let this be you.
Maybe my cautionary photo may be a little harsh,
 but I just felt you should be prepared on your wedding day.
Be sure to have your "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" all lined up for the main event.

Fun wine glass "Clinks" from clinks etsy shop. Perfect for those wedding morning mimosas amongst bridesmaids and the bride to be. Oh wait, is that just a tradition in my family.

The Victorian good luck saying went a little something like this:
Something old, something new
something borrowed, something blue,
and a silver sixpence in her shoe.

Something old: It is meant to be an item that links the bride to her family and her past.

Beautiful necklace from Allie's Adornments. This charming design is composed of antique Victorian buttons. I think this is a really great idea. Maybe use some beautiful antique buttons from your grandmother or mother's wedding dress to create a beautiful necklace or just sew the buttons on the interior hem of your wedding dress

Something old, and a little bold. Vintage earrings from The Unique Bird (my etsy shop). Try wearing a pair of antique earrings from your mom or grandmother.

Something new: This should represent good fortune and success in the bride's marriage.

I would say a new dress would cover this one. This gorgeous custom creation is from Threadhead Creations etsy shop.

Something borrowed:  This is meant to show the necessity of family and friends to the new couple. P.S.- The borrowed item should come from a happily married woman, because it will transfer some of her married harmony to the new bride. Keep in mind you are not only choosing a borrowed item, but need to make sure the item's owner is happily hitched.

Lovely little ring that would be perfect to wear on a wedding day. Created using vintage buttons. Found in Daughters Vintage etsy shop.
Here is the scathingly brilliant plan. Say you are not the bride, but you find a little something fabulous for yourself. Treat yourself to a little gift but let the bride borrow it on her wedding day. Everyone wins.

Something blue: The color blue represents faithfulness, loyalty and purity for the bride and groom.

Beautiful vintage lace from FabricOutlet's etsy shop. Add a touch of blue to your wedding day. It would be a lovely way to wrap the bride's bouquet.  The bride could even stitch a little into the inside of her wedding gown if the blue doesn't jive with her color scheme.

Delicate blue pearl hairpins from The Blossom Shop. These are an elegant way to infuse that updo with a hint of bridal good luck blue.

A silver sixpence in her shoe: This is meant to bring the good fortune to the newly weds.

Singing a song of sixpence won't help you to find one. Pick up this great keepsake card with sixpence included from Mon Amour Boutique on etsy.

 (Due to our lack of sixpence laying around here in Ohio, we tend to use real American tender at our family weddings.)
 You know, a penny.

Lucky find. Lucky penny necklace from Blueberry Cream's etsy shop. 
It is so nice to be able to wear the penny because, FYI: it is not so comfortable to walk down the aisle with a penny in your shoe. (what if you are wearing open toe pumps?) Word on the street is that my Mom has three different pennies for my sister to carry. All the pennies have sentimental meaning so that is nice, but three? Good luck with that one sis. No one said being a bride was comfortable.


What's the deal with all of the bridesmaids wearing matching dresses?
Vintage photo found in America The Beautiful's etsy shop.

According to my findings on ourmarriage.com and this article on neosoksmos.com, this tradition dates back to early Roman times. Bridesmaids acted as beautiful bodyguards. (not unlike Kevin Costner)
Bridesmaids would dress almost identically like the bride to throw off evil spirits or ex-beaus trying to steal the bride's dowry, as the bride walked through her village to the church on her wedding day.

 Beautiful custom bridesmaid dresses from Nostalgia on etsy. I am totally down with breaking the matchy matchy bridesmaid dress tradition.


Why does the bride wear a white (ish) dress?
Vintage photo of a bride in pink from Lady Green Jeans etsy shop.

 Queen Victoria of England, made wearing white on your wedding day the cool thing to do in 1840.
Of course, a bride wearing white symbolizes purity and virginity.

Married in White, you have chosen right

Married in Grey, you will go far away,
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back,
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in Blue, you will always be true,
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in Brown, you will live in the town,
Married in Pink, you spirit will sink.
 This little poem was found on weddings.co.uk. Talk about color theory.
Colorful little handmade paper roses from Sweet Mulberry's etsy shop.

Tying some old shoes to the bride and groom's bumper?

image by:Stuart McClymont/Getty Images

 This tradition dates back to Tudor times. Guests would throw shoes (not rice) at the bride & groom's get away carriage. If the carriage was struck with a shoe the couple would have good luck, If the horse got struck with the shoe they would banish that wedding guest from the reception.
(I made that last part about the horse up. Did you actually believe me?)
 Vintage salt shaker from Salt and Pepper Mania on etsy.

Save the bride, keep the shoes on!
Hand painted shoe design by norakaren. This is another unique option for the bride's "something blue".

 Be happy this tradition faded away...
 in Anglo Saxon times the Bride was symbolically struck with a shoe by her Groom to establish his authority. Brides would then throw shoes at their bridesmaids to see who would marry next.
Moral of this old tradition: keep your shoes on while at a wedding to avoid a concussion.

Tossing a bouquet and not the shoe

vintage photo from KnitsandPics etsy shop.

According to this article on The Straight Dope, if a single gal catches the bouquet she will be the next to marry. If she catches it then drops it, she will be the last to marry.

Sept. 8th 2001. Bouquet toss at my wedding.

The Hubby's Grandma caught the bouquet at our wedding reception. WTF does that mean?

Congrats and Best Wishes

Awesome vintage greeting card from Paper Mo Chez.

Supposedly you should, Congratulate the groom (on his good catch),
and give the bride best wishes (because she's going to need it).

So sister all I am going to say for now is
"break a leg",
and...
I Love you Katie! I am so excited for your wedding!

8 comments:

  1. So sweet of you! Thank you so much!
    Great collection!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for including me in this. This is way call, going to have to come back and look some.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ....meant to say "way cool"

    don't think "way call" means anything

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing feature..I'm honored and surprised of such amazing composition on this article!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a darling post! Thank you for including my necklace!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL, those traditions are hilarious (esp the colors ... :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks everyone! I am glad you liked this post! I had some fun researching this stuff! Now that the wedding is over, what the heck am I going to blab about?

    ReplyDelete