Five Bridal Superstitions & How To Survive Them

Planning & Advice

Image from Melia & Padraig’s real wedding

While superstitions have a certain charm, and most definitely come with a heritage of some kind or other, it’s important to remember that the future happiness of your marriage has nothing to do with whether or not you wore something blue. Take it easy, and don’t let anything take away your enjoyment of the day. You want those pearls? You wear them honey, and break a leg!

Here are some of my favourite wedding superstitions – ring any bells?

Best and worst days to marry

Image by Andrew O’Dwyer Photography

Most brides know this little rhyme about which day of the week affects the rest of your marriage:

Monday for wealth,
Tuesday for health,
Wednesday the best day of all,
Thursday for losses,
Friday for crosses,
Saturday for no luck at all.

Why no Sunday, you ask? Well, apparently Sunday weddings were banned in the 17th century as it was a holy day of rest – and look, Wednesday was the best day of all! Fast forward to 2015, where you can get amazing venue deals for a Sunday wedding, and the most popular day to marry is… Saturday – that’s right, the day for no luck at all! And chances are, most venues are definitely available on any given Wednesday. Well then…

Avoiding seeing the wedding dress until the big day

Image from Isobelle & Edward’s real wedding

Internet wisdom tells us that this superstition originated way back when all marriages were arranged, and the bride and groom weren’t supposed to meet until their wedding day – in case they changed their mind! It makes a strange kind of sense, doesn’t it? In time, this morphed into a huge surprise for the groom, who stood nervously next to the priest or the registrar, wondering if his bride is going to show up looking like a snow beast (it’s not me, it’s from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I swear…)

Then there was the case of an actual real bride-to-be I knew, who opted for a gorgeous 50s style dress for her wedding, and in line with the tradition kept the details all to herself, getting all giddy just thinking how gorgeous she’ll look on her wedding day, and how the groom will fall in love with her all over again right there at the altar. Then, one evening, they were watching TV together, and saw someone wearing something rather similar to the aforementioned dress. The groom, in blissful oblivion, said out loud “what a hideous thing, I don’t know how anyone can wear THAT to a wedding, it doesn’t even look like a wedding dress, and she looks awful in it!” The next thing the world heard was the thud of the bride’s fist punching him in the face… no – just kidding! It was the thud of her heart falling to her stomach actually, as she realised that dress (designer, cost a fortune) was going to be walked down the aisle towards her fashion-unconscious fiancé… She cried and cried for days, consulted everyone she knew about what to do, panic-booked eight more bridal shop appointments…  and luckily most people said: don’t worry, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, just wear the dress, and it’ll be totally fine! And you know what, they were right. On the wedding day he thought she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his whole life (too right!) and when she mentioned this to him after the wedding, he said he was such an idiot and to never take seriously anything he says. Which I believe she actually took quite literally…

Just think what this scenario would have looked like if he saw her before the wedding!

Now, we have a growing, and gorgeous, trend of the “first look” photo – where the bride and the groom get to see each other alone before the ceremony to share that special moment. Many grooms actually cry… it must be such a heady thing, to see your wife-to-be looking like royalty. And I love this trend, because it’s not only very touching, but also makes the couple much more relaxed during the ceremony.

Even your colours aren’t safe

Image from Barbara & John’s real wedding

Now, I don’t know anyone who actually wore TAN to her wedding (perhaps not the most flattering colour for a bridal gown…), but here’s a little guidance on the colours, in case you’re having trouble figuring that colour scheme. Even Ireland’s beloved green is not recommended for brides. It seems that to avoid tempting the fates, you’re left with blue or white as the only safe colours! Unless of course you want to live out of town, then go ahead and marry in brown:

Marry in white, everything’s right
Marry in blue, lover be true
Marry in pink, spirits will sink
Marry in grey, live far away
Marry in brown, live out of town
Marry in green, ashamed to be seen
Marry in yellow, ashamed of your fellow
Marry in black, wish you were back
Marry in red, wish you were dead
Marry in tan, he’ll be a loved man
Marry in pearl, you’ll live in a whirl

Of course, nowadays all of that is hardly ever taken into consideration, as dresses come in all colours – I’m talking to you, Vera Wang! The good news is – you’re safe in purple.

To pearl or not to pearl on your wedding day

Image from Caitríona & Alan’s real wedding

Some people say that it’s good luck to wear pearls, some say it’s bad. Some say that fake pearls are okay, real pearls aren’t. And some brides actually believe it!

This superstition is so confused, nobody can actually agree on its origin, which is a good thing really, because a lot of the top designers would get mightily angry if they were told to stop using pearls in their designs… where there are embellishments, there will be pearls! And let’s not forget the brides who are having pearls as part of their whole theme (diamonds and pearls anyone?) Should they scrap the whole thing too, and start over? Nah.

Apparently the pearls represent the tears the bride will cry during the marriage, so the more pearls the more crying to look forward to… I daresay, if you happen to cry sometime after your wedding (chopping onions?), just remember to blame it on wearing pearls on your wedding day.

So don’t return your jewellery or veil or pearl-encrusted wedding shoes – you’ll be totally fine, I promise!

Rain on your wedding day – ok or not ok?

Image by Studio33Weddings

If only everyone would agree! Some say wedding day rain is good – it represents cleansing and fertility. Others say it’s bad – it represents the tears the bride will shed during her marriage. Ooh, if you add that to the pearls, you’ll have a real flood on your hands one day… best not to tempt the fates, huh?

Truthfully, the Emerald Isle experiences showers quite often, thanks to the aptly named ‘temperate oceanic climate’ it enjoys. So this means that it’s as likely to rain on your wedding day as it isn’t.

Cheer up – there are so many photographers who are absolutely brilliant at handling the questionable weather conditions, and without the rain you’d never have those fantastic photos with multiple-coloured brollies and wellies etc. The key is being prepared – so make sure you talk to your hair and make-up artist about tips on how to fix up any mishaps in case anything happens. Waterproof mascara is definitely your friend on this day.

Be prepared to enjoy the romance – have you seen the photos of couples kissing on a rainy day under the Eiffel Tower, or walking holding hands across the London Bridge under a giant umbrella? Whoever says rain is not romantic has never kissed anyone during a spring shower, that’s for sure.