Victorian Wedding Traditions

A bride at her wedding should wear:

Something old,
Something new,
Something borrowed,
Something blue,
And a sixpence in the shoe.

Or, in the United States:

...And a new dime in the shoe.

The "old" must be something which has belonged to a happily married woman. The wearing of such an item insures a lucky transfer of happiness to the new bride. The "new" is the wedding gown, the shoes, or other apparel of the bride. The "borrowed" must be some object of gold to guarantee wealth and fortune in the future. The "blue" is symbolic of the heavens and also of true love. The "sixpence" or "new dime" must be worn in the heel of the left shoe to insure wealth and prosperity.

White, as the accepted color for the formal wedding, is fairly recent. It is the symbol, of course, of purity and innocence, a symbol which goes back to the days of the Greeks. It was not until the late eighteenth century, however, that white began to be fashionable for the wedding gown, a fashion confirmed in Victorian times, and unchallenged today. For the informal wedding the bride may select any color she considers suitable, except that red and black-symbols of devilry and witchcraft -are taboo.

The veil itself is Eastern in origin, and the custom of wearing it was introduced into Europe by the returning Crusaders.

Eastern women wore it to ward off the evil eye, and it protected not only the face, but the whole body as well. It was not removed until after the wedding ceremony, and the wearing of it to that time was a sign to the groom that the bride was pure and innocent. When the veil was introduced into European and, later, American weddings the symbolism of purity and innocence continued to be associated with it. Among the Anglo-Saxons also it was the custom for four tall men to hold a veil or canopy over the bride at her wedding to hide her blushes. If she was a widow, the veil was esteemed useless.

The reasons given for the wearing of the ring upon the fourth finger of the left hand are three:

The most practical and mundane is the Roman explanation that this finger best protects the valuable ring. The left hand, to begin with, is used less than the right: therefore the ring belongs to the left. And of the fingers on the left hand, the fourth is the only one which cannot easily be extended except in the company of another. The finger is protected: the ring is as safe as it can be.

The second reason goes back to the Egyptians, who believed that a vein ran from the fourth finger of the left hand directly to the heart. Since the heart controlled both life and love, this finger was the most honored. It deserved the ring, the pledge of love.

The third reason stems from the Christian Church which, to impress the seriousness of the ceremony upon the bride and groom, lectured that the thumb and the first two fingers of the hand stood respectively for the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and that the fourth stood for the earthly love of man for woman, their marriage together, and the hope of Heaven to follow.

"With this rynge I thee wed, and this gold and silver I thee give, and with my body I thee worship, and will all my worldly chatels I thee endow." When the groom had said these words, he held the ring for a moment over the tip of the thumb of the ring hand, saying, "In the name of the father;" then held it briefly to the tip of the second finger saying, "And of the Son;" then put it to the tip of the third finger, saying, "And of the Holy Ghost;" and, lastly, placed it firmly on the fourth finger with a resolute "Amen."

From earliest times, the symbol of domestic authority has been the shoe. In Anglo-Saxon marriages, the father, to demonstrate transfer of authority over his daughter from himself to the groom, took a shoe off the bride's foot and handed it to the groom. Upon receiving the shoe, the groom became the bride's owner and master. To show his acquistion of authority, he tapped the bride lightly on the head with the sign of power, the shoe.

So, today, when a slipper or shoe is thrown after the married couple or after their car, it is a symbol of relinquishment of authority on the part of the father of the bride, and a total transfer of that authority and power to the groom. The slipper or shoe should, in carrying out this tradition, be thrown by the father of the bride or by some close relative.