Main Piece: 

This is a conversation recorded from a participant. She is marked AS, I am marked CM.

CM: “Tell me about your superstition”

AS: “which one… the three times?”

CM: “yeah”

AS: “um, three times a bridesmaid, never a bride. Basically, if you’re a bridesmaid three times that means you’ll never actually have your own wedding”

CM: “Where’d you hear that from?”

AS: “My mom, I don’t know, she always said it because she was joking the other day that I’m going to be asked to be a bridesmaid and it’ll be my third time”

CM: “Oh and then you’ll never get married”

AS: “I’ll never be a bride (laughs)”

Context:

The participant in this situation is my roommate, I overheard a phone conversation in which her mother was telling her about another one of their family friends engagement. Her mother then joked with the participant that it will be her third time being a bridesmaid. After the phone call ended I asked her what her mom meant by that and she informed me about this superstition they have in England.

Background:

The participant is originally from England and just recently moved to the United States as an international student. She is a second semester freshman at the University of Southern California in the Cinema and Media Studies Program. This superstition is common where she lives and was originally told the her by her mother.

Analysis:

It is very common to have superstitions that go along with major events especially weddings. In this case the superstition is not focused on the success of the bride and groom’s marriage but rather the future of the bridal party. This is similar to the common superstition where whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to get married but in this case, the superstition leads to them not getting married. Being a bridesmaid three times would have no correlation to you getting married, yet many single women still fear being a reoccurring bridesmaid.