Something Old Something New

Something old, something new…..

The age old rhyme used to ensure good luck for brides on their wedding day goes as follows :

“Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue,
And a silver sixpence in your shoe.”

This very popular and often used rhyme originated in Victorian times.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually find the people who made it up and asked them what gave them the idea. Well we can’t unfortunately, but we’ve dug around a bit and seem to have found some information on the well known wedding rhyme.

“Something Old” is allegedly meant to represent “old friends” of the happy couple, who will hopefully remain close throughout the marriage.
Traditionally it was an old garter worn by the bride, given to her by a happily married lady, in the hope that the happiness of her marriage would be passed onto the new bride.
Personally, someone’s old garter is not something we’d find too attractive these days, so it could be swapped to an item of jewellry handed down from your mother or grandmother.

“Something New” is said to represent the newlywed’s happy and prosperous future together.
These days, the something new is usually the wedding dress, or again, some new jewellery, perhaps ear-rings.

“Something Borrowed” is traditionally something let to the bride by someone in her family. A highly valued item which the bride must return to ensure her good luck.

From what we can discover about the “Something Blue” this has it’s origins where a bride would wear a blue ribbon, probably in her hair, which would represent fidelity.
More recently, the blue could be the garter, or perhaps a sapphire item of jewellry.

As for the silver sixpence in the shoe of the bride, no doubt this became so uncomfortable for her that the tradition was eventually ditched.
The original idea was to ensure wealth for the couple during married life together.
I guess today’s equivalent is a wedding gift list, or just asking all the wedding guests to give cash !

Happy Wedding Planning !

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