Wedding Tradition

There is a saying on what a bride should wear during her wedding: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Leslie spent her middle and high school years in Wayne, N.J., and she learned this tradition sometime in her 20s before she got married. This tradition says that a bride must wear four different things on her wedding day, at least one thing that fit each category. Usually the thing that is new is the dress, while the shoes, earrings or gloves are usually borrowed. The earrings or something that the bride is wearing under the dress or veil are usually blue and the veil or jewelry are usually the old things.

Leslie adhered to this tradition when she was married and said that everybody who’s ever been a bride knows this tradition and adheres to it as well. She wore blue garters, a new dress, borrowed earrings, and an old ring that was her great-great grandmother’s. She said that this tradition is supposed to make the bride ‘the perfect bride’ and it is supposed to make sure that the bride and groom have a happy wedding. She also said that this tradition exists to make sure that all good things happen on the wedding day and beyond.

Personally, I have never been a bride, nor will I be one, so I haven’t heard the tradition nor can I relate to it. It is interested to note however, the different things that the bride is supposed to wear. I think that each thing symbolizes different people that have influenced the bride throughout her life and by wearing four different things, this symbolizes that she is supposed to take everything that people have taught her and carry it on into her new life. The old item symbolizes influences from the bride’s parents or grandparents. The new thing symbolizes the new life, the future, and the influence of the groom, while the borrowed item could symbolize influence from friends of the bride. As for the blue item, that might symbolize the earth and remind the bride that she is part of the earth and needs it to survive. These four different items will remind the bride of everyone who has had meaning in her life, made an impact on her and shaped her to the woman she has become.