Regarding anything in life, there will always be superstitions abound. Weddings are just one part of life where superstitions are rife. Many superstitions have their roots in ancient times when science was poorly understood and many people believed in evil spirits and bad luck. For instance, the Chinese believe that when the bride leaves her house, she is supposed to leave under a red umbrella because it will shield her from evil spirits. There are variations to this belief, however. Some believe that the opening of the red umbrella will increase her fertility - which is another factor that is very important among the Chinese.

Some superstitions have arisen from practices that were customary of the time but may no longer be relevant to the current day. An example of this would be the Chinese wedding custom of having the bride and groom leave the bride’s house, drive around the block and return to the house. In ancient times, before the convenience of transport, a bride sometimes got married to a groom who lived quite far away. After leaving her house and performing the wedding ceremony at the groom’s house, the bride and groom would return to the bride’s family to greet her parents as newly weds. Given that many things have changed since then, the return to the bride’s house and the greeting of her parents is usually signified by driving around the block and returning to the house again before officially departing for the groom’s house.

Many wedding superstitions today are still commonly practiced despite the fact that their meanings have been lost or forgotten over the years. Nevertheless, it is still interesting to observe them and understand a little about how they came about. Many couples today will still observe certain wedding traditions and superstitions for the fun of it and for the hope of the luck it might bring them.

Every culture has some recommended wedding traditions to follow and beliefs surrounding good and bad luck. These vary greatly between cultures and may even be contradictory across cultures. For instance, in the Western world, it is considered unlucky for the groom to see the bride before the wedding day, yet among the Chinese, the groom must pick up his bride from her house personally.

Among the Chinese wedding superstitions, many of them usually relate to one of three things - good fortune, warding off of evil spirits, and fertility. In ancient times, it was critical for a bride to produce a male heir for her new family to carry on the family name therefore anything that could be done to increase her fertility was desirable. Superstitions surrounding fertility include the following:

- having a woman of good fortune prepare the bridal bed so that the new couple will be blessed with an abundance of fertility.

- on the day of the wedding, young children are invited to play on the bridal bed as it is believed they will increase the couple’s fertility.

- a bride’s hair must be fixed by a woman who is married with living spouse and children.

In addition to fertility, a new couple and the groom’s family also seek good fortune to arise from the occasion of the union. Several things are done to encourage that:

- in a betrothal ceremony that usually takes place a couple of weeks before the actual wedding ceremony, the groom is expected to go over to the bride’s house to present the “dowry”. Several items are given in the dowry including mandarin oranges (because the term in Chinese sounds like “gold”), money for the dowry and jewellery.

- the bride is expected to be adorned with gold jewellery when she arrives at the home of her new family. The significance of gold means she will bring wealth and prosperity to the house.

- the parents of the bride are also expected to give the groom a pair of pants, wallet and a belt. Inside the wallet, they are required to put in some money to an amount bearing a number 8 as the number 8 signifies wealth.

There are several things that must be done to ward off evil spirits and these include:

- covering the bride with a red umbrella as she leaves her home.

- when the bride arrives at her new home, she is required to leap over an iron basin of hot coal to ward off evil spirits.

- on the wedding night, the bride and groom must light two candles representing the dragon and the phoenix. The dragon represents the groom and the phoenix represents the bride. Aside from warding off spirits, the candles are also to signify unity between the new couple.

Aside from these, there are also some other superstitions associated with Chinese weddings which vary depending on the situation and the individuals involved. For instance, if the bride is a younger sibling who is getting married before an older sibling, the groom is required to buy a pair of shoes for the older sibling for luck so that he may soon be married shortly after.

In any culture, there appear to be good and bad times to get married. Among the Chinese, an auspicious wedding date is usually selected from the Almanac based on the birth dates of the couple. To ensure there is no clash between the bride to be and her new family, the birth dates of the groom’s parents may also taken into consideration. A date that is mutually beneficial to all parties involved and is also believed to be a good date for a wedding is then selected. Accompanying the date are also certain times during the day when the couple must complete certain tasks. For instance, the bride and groom must leave the bride’s house by a set time and the wedding ceremony must be performed within a specific time frame during the wedding day.

Aside from selecting a date from the Almanac, there are also certain months of the year where it is considered very unlucky for a couple to wed. The fourth and fifth months are usually avoided because the numbers 4 and 5 are considered unlucky. The seventh month is also avoided because it is known as the “ghost month” where the spirits of the dead are believed to be roaming freely. Interestingly, there is a similar following in Ancient Rome however in this case the unlucky month to get married is May as it represents the month of the “Feast of the Dead”.

In the Western culture, the month of June has always been a popular month for weddings. Historically, this was because May was the month where the annual bath took place and most people still smelt relatively fresh in the month of June. Additionally, June is looked upon favourably because it is named after the goddess Juno who is the Roman goddess of the hearth and home and the patron of wives.

Recommended wedding days follow the old rhyme: “Monday is for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday best of all. Thursday brings crosses, Friday brings losses; but Saturday, no luck at all.” There is also an old rhyme stating which months are favourable or unfavourable for weddings: “Marry in Lent, live to Repent. Married when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind and true. When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate. If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know. Marry in April when you can, joy for Maiden and for Man. Marry in the month of May, and you’ll surely rue the day. Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you will go. Those who in July do wed, must labor for their daily bread. Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see. Marry in September’s shrine, your living will be rich and fine. If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry. If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember. When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.”

Among the common Western wedding traditions and superstitions, one of the most popular would have to be: “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and a Sixpence in your Shoe”. Originating from Victorian times, this belief is still practiced to this day for good luck.

The general belief is that “Something Old” represents the connection of the bride to her past - her friends and her family. To symbolise this, a bride will usually wear an item belonging to her mother or her grandmother, such as a piece of jewellery that is a family heirloom or the wedding gown of her mother. The traditional symbol is for the bride to wear the garter of a happily married woman so that the woman may pass her marital good fortunes to the new bride to be.

“Something New” represents the new life that the bride is about to begin and is a reflection of optimism and hope for her future. This is most usually denoted by a new wedding dress.

“Something Borrowed” is a reminder to the bride that her friends and family will always be there for her to provide their support and assistance if she should require them. This is usually signified by an item of value from a close friend or family member. To ensure that the luck is transferred, it is important for the bride to return the object after the wedding is over.

“Something Blue” represents faithfulness, fidelity and constancy. In Ireland, blue is also considered a lucky colour. In biblical times, blue symbolised purity and the bride and groom often wore blue material along the hem of their wedding attire. In present times, this is usually represented by a blue garter or blue ribbons.

“A Silver Sixpence in her Shoe” symbolises financial security and happiness in the bride’s new life. However, in 17th Century England, the sixpence was often a part of the bride’s dowry to the groom.

Another common Western wedding tradition is that the bride and groom are not allowed to see each other on the wedding day or it will spell bad luck for the couple. The belief for this superstition traces back to the times when marriages were arranged and the bride and groom saw each other for the first time at the altar. To ensure that the groom did not have second thoughts about the wedding because the bride was less attractive than he preferred, the bride would often be veiled until after the vows were exchanged.

There are numerous wedding superstitions and beliefs both across cultures and within cultures. Given the increasing number of cross cultural weddings, to follow them all would be impossible. However, even if it is an impossibility to follow all the wedding superstitions known, most couples will still choose to observe some of them for the promise of good fortune, happiness and luck in their marriage.