10 Wedding Superstitions We’re Not Believers In Anymore
Is it weird that I get excited when I realize it’s Friday the 13th? I’m not really into superstitions and I don’t particularly love scary movies (AKA I pretty much cried any time the IT clown trailer came on last fall), but there’s something about Friday the 13th that gets me strangely energized. In any case, we wouldn’t be totally wrong in saying that at least half of couples probably wouldn’t consider picking this date for their wedding. Eh, I myself probably wouldn’t have picked it for my own wedding. But who knows these days… We’ve seen rustic chic weddings done fabulously on Halloween!
Anyhow, in the spirit of spookiness, and the fact that there won’t be another F13 until next September, we thought it’d be cool to take a closer look at some of the wedding superstitions all of us have been told to heed throughout the years, some that aren’t so well-known, and others that have been around for so we can’t even remember why they mattered.
Quite a few come from much larger-than-life wedding traditions around the world, so it wouldn’t be so terrible to cross reference with those, too. Might help you understand the origins of these supposed omens.
Oh, and rain on your wedding day? It’s not #ironic, it’s not exactly good luck, but it can be straight up stunning. And if not, that’s what the wedding insurance is for 😉.
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Using your new last name before it’s official
Can sabotage your wedding from happening altogether… at least, that’s what the superstition is. And while we get it, it by no means makes us reconsider all of those Future Mrs. XX shirts we’re psyched to order or the monogrammed towels we can’t wait to tag with our registry guns.
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Picking a counterpart with the same last initial as you
The proverb goes “To change the name and not the letter/is to change for the worst and not the better.” Sooo apparently it’s bad to marry someone who shares the first letter of their last name with you. My husband’s sister got married to a guy who also had an H last name. And they’re going on 6 years of marriage, with baby #2 on the way. I’d say they’re making it work. Kaley Cuoco now Kaley Cook… samesies! Probs even better luck with their kismet #kcsquared.
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Getting married on a Saturday
According to English folklore, getting married on a Saturday will bring nothing but bad luck to the happy couple. We obvi can’t take this one seriously 1) because Saturday weddings are glorious and 2) English tradition? Harry and Meghan got hitched on a Saturday in May (which is apparently the most unlucky month to get married, marry in may, rue the day….) and they seem to be doing just fine 👍
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The bride wearing black
Sooo many superstitions have existed over the years re: the color the bride chooses to wear on her day. One of such being that a bride who wears a black dress or any black for her big day will risk becoming a young widow. While that’s a super scary thought, it doesn’t really seem to be deterring any modern brides from going dark with their wedding looks. OMG, if wearing black on the wedding day means early widow-ship, what would wearing a black engagement ring mean??!!?!
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The bride making her own dress
How sad is this one? Tradition says that a bride who sews her own dress is in for a rough marriage ahead. Each stitch she sews is said to equate to tears shed during her marriage. I don’t know, I think a bride who makes her own dress is sooo baller. Her partner probably is too. And they’ll have a great thing going for the future.
If you’re still a little cautious, though, outsource the wedding dress making to your bestie… vis a vis Ann Perkins for Leslie Knope.
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Seeing each other before the wedding
This one is pretty much old news at this point, because first looks are everything now. But way back when arranged marriages were in vogue, it was customary for the couple not to see each other until the ceremony. If they did; however, it meant that one of them was having cold feet and there might not even be a wedding after all. If Jim and Pam can do it (and she did it, pregnant), so can you.
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Dropping the rings
Legend has it that if someone drops a ring(s) during the exchange of vows, he or she will die. Certainly sounds a little too Final Destination, but considering that the cutest part of the wedding party (the ring bearer) will be carrying those rings, I will be making sureeee my sister and brother-in-law’s rings stay put on his pillow!!
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Picking peonies
For your wedding bouquet is said to be shameful. Well, the act of picking them isn’t shameful, the flower itself is supposedly extra shameful. To this, we say hell effing ‘no!’ They’re fluffy and beautiful, and expensive AF. Maybe that’s why it’s so shameful?? Regardless, we’re not really on board with this one, but if you have weird feelings about it, just go with garden roses. Roses are lucky, and garden roses have the same kind of look.
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Seeing a nun or monk on the way to the wedding
Apparently, if a bride sees a nun or monk on the way to her wedding she’ll be cursed with a barren life ‘dependent on charity.’ I don’t know, though, I had an actual nun AT my wedding (my Great Aunt), and me and my hubs are still feeling pretty happily-ever-after! Maybe that’s the key… see a nun or monk on the way to your marriage day, invite them to the party!! #blessed.
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Finding an engagement ring and wearing it as your own
This might not be an actual omen, but I was watching that episode of The Office the other night, where Kelly finds the engagement ring that Andy wants to give to his new girlfriend. So, to get it back, he lies about the ring being their boss’s ex-wife’s and says “The ring of a failed marriage, might have some sinister energy, right?” I mean…. I wouldn’t say wearing a divorced person’s ring is a bad thing!! Especially if the rock is 👌. Just might have a little weird juju.
BONUS… because it’s so good.
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Sleeping with a slice of groom’s cake
Is said to be lucky for bridesmaids and wedding guests who are single. If they slumber with a slice of the groom’s cake under their pillow, they’re likely to dream about their future husbands.
We might just keep this one on lock for our #sosingle friends. 🍰 and🤵. Neither is bad….