Something Blue...

Who hasn’t heard of the well-known saying “something old, something new something borrowed something blue”. It’s so well know that we even named one of our confetti mixes after it! Throw our ‘Something Blue’ at your wedding and you already have one base covered!

Our ‘Something Blue’ confetti is a mix of our cream ‘Icing Sugar’ delphiniums and our bright ‘Blue Bird’ cornflowers.  Because our confetti is 100% natural and completely free from dyes we wanted to find a really true blue petal that when dried would keep its colour. With our cornflower this is exactly what we got and now our ‘Something Blue’ confetti is one of our most popular mixes!

Anyway, as I was saying about its name…    

We love those special wedding traditions that add an extra bit of meaning to the big day. Whilst I stood making up some orders of our ‘Something Blue’ this morning I began to wonder what other wedding traditions there were out there…

Turns out, there are quite a few. So here’s a countdown of our top 5 wedding traditions…

5. Choosing the day

So you’ve met the one, agreed to marry and now all you need to do is set the date! Easy right?

Let’s start with the day…

Sundays used to be the most popular day to be married as usually it was the day that everyone was free from work. This was stopped in the 17^th Century when puritan rule taught that that it was improper to be celebratory on the Sabbath day. Now Saturday is the most popular day to get married!

But according to the rhyme you could choose “Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, and Wednesday the best day of all” … so who’s says weddings need to be saved for the weekend?

But it’s not just the day you need to think about, the month needs to be taken into account too.  If you’d like a summer wedding then why not “Marry when June roses grow and over land and sea you'll go.” That sounds nice doesn’t it? Likewise if it’s more of a winter wedding you’re after you could choose December and “When December snows fall fast, true love will last.”

4. Wedding Dress Colour

Today most brides marry in white or shades of cream and according to the rhyme “Married in white, you have chosen right.” Yipee!

Traditionally white was a symbol of maidenhood and was started by the rich in the 16^th century. Prior to this a bride would choose their best dress to marry in and the colour was a matter of preference…

(Photo from - http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=rainbow++wedding+dress)

So if you're deciding to break tradition and go for a coloured dress instead why not go for  something blue as according to the rhyme â€œMarried in Blue, your love will always be true” …

3. Something Old, Something New…

Ahhh that old chestnut! We’re sure you’ve all heard it (although maybe not the last line) but what does it mean?

As an Old English rhyme its origin and meaning has been lost somewhat over time, but here’s what most people believe…

The "something old" represents a link to the past such as the bride’s family or friends. Traditionally this would be a family heirloom or a piece of jewellery passed down to her.

The "something new" symbolises good fortune and a prosperous future for the newlyweds – traditionally the wedding dress was the something new.

The "something borrowed" is often lent to the bride from a family member or friend who has had a good marriage in hopes it will bring them the same fortune.

The custom of the bride wearing "something blue" on her wedding day dates back to biblical times when blue represented fidelity.

And “the sixpence”, well that represents both financial wealth and wealth of happiness throughout the marriage. 

2. Throwing the bouquet

This is probably one of the better known wedding traditions… but do we know where it actually comes from? Well that’s what we’re here to answer. Centuries ago it was considered lucky if you could get your hands on pieces of the bride's dress and flowers. In order to escape from the crowd the bride would throw her bouquet in the air and run away. Today it’s believed that whoever catches the thrown bouquet will be the next to marry.

And last but definitely not least…

1. Confetti!!!

Yes! That’s right – confetti is the ultimate wedding tradition in our eyes!  The throwing of confetti is an age old tradition that symbolised fertility and prosperity for the new couple. Traditionally handfuls of grain or nuts were thrown because they are 'life-giving' seeds - We like to think we’ve not stepped too far from tradition with our completely natural and eco-friendly petal confetti!

So there you have it, our top 5 wedding traditions.

We hope you've enjoyed learning as much about these wedding customs as we have! 

Love as always SP xx