Text:

“When I got married, [I was told by my sister-in-law] the bride wasn’t supposed to walk down the center aisle for the rehearsal because it would curse your wedding. It was also seen of as good luck if it rained on your wedding day and that would give you good fortune in your lives.”

Context:

JN is a 50-year-old freelance writer in Minnesota, where she grew up as well. She told me about a wedding tradition from when she got married, because she remembers that she accidentally walked down the center aisle during her rehearsal and was told that her wedding was cursed, but during the wedding itself it rained which she was told was good luck.  

Interpretation:

It’s interesting the superstitions that develop from liminal time periods like weddings, as it seems like so much is changing that we try to rationalize it by creating rules. The fact of the matter is, marriage is huge shift in one’s life, so if things go well or poorly after that, it is easy to blame it on that one day. And during the wedding itself, because those getting married are aware of how important it is and how much is changing, they will likely buy into the superstitions because they don’t want to risk anything going wrong. Either the people will stay married forever or they will get divorced, so either you have good luck in marriage or bad luck. Instead of blaming bad luck on personal decisions or poor choices, it’s easier to blame it on things that are out of one’s control, like the weather or a mistake during the rehearsal. People are quick to look for scapegoats for poor decisions rather than analyze their own hand in their fate.