No matter what country a person is from, nearly everyone in the world believes in at least a few wedding superstitions. Many believe the bride wears or carries “something old” to symbolize continuing with past traditions. Others fear if the groom sees his bride, in or out of her gown, on the wedding day, before the ceremony, this will result in a marriage full of rotten luck.

Superstitions, the irrational belief that objects, actions, or circumstances not logically related to a specific course of events will ultimately influence their outcomes, exist in every country, drawing in people searching for explanations and rationalizations. But just like the languages in these different countries, including Germany, superstitions vary with the cultures as well.

Various stages of a wedding, including the toast and gift-giving, are surrounded by superstitious thoughts and actions. One notion in particular German women may greatly enjoy and try especially hard to arrange. Word has it, if a groom buckles the left shoe of his bride, on their wedding day, the bride is the one who will take control of the relationship.

After the wedding ceremony, everyone knows a number of toasts take place at the reception. Take care, however. To never toast anyone, not just a bride or groom, with plain water. Toasting someone with water, in German culture superstition, is the equivalent of literally wishing death on the honored friend. By toasting this way, the person giving the toast means he/she wants his/her friend to die.

The gift-giving part of the reception, or any party, may prove difficult when following along the line of superstitions. Long ago, a knife smith made a deal with the Devil. When the knife smith managed to weasel his way out of the demonic deal, the Devil cursed the knife smith’s work for ages to come. Since that time, instead of presenting someone with the gift of a cursed knife, a German gift-giver gives the gift of a knife token, good for one knife. This way, the recipient’s household isn’t subject to injury or death by receiving a cutlery knife. Another special gift would be a wallet. Any time this item is given, superstition says to include a penny, this way the new owner will never be poor.

Once the reception is over, the bride and groom will eventually go back to their “marriage bed,” either at a hotel or house. Unlike in most well-known American cultures, traditional German brides and grooms return to their rooms with their bridesmaids and groomsmen. Whereas usually a bride will throw her bouquet and a groom will remove then throw the garter, it is German superstition for the wedding party to turn their backs on the bride and groom, and attempt to fling their post wedding stockings and socks at the bride and groom’s faces. Whoever made it first is believed to be the next to marry.

The last German superstition, which could follow, as part of a wedding ceremony is a housewarming party once the bride and groom move into their own home. It is customary to present the new homeowners with the gifts of bread and salt along with herbs and wine. These four items are believed to keep the recipients from ever going hungry in their new home.

Superstitions exist in every culture of every corner of the world. In American culture, weddings are filled with traditions such as “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” In German culture, wedding goers must take care how they toast and what gifts they give. Superstitions don’t survive generation after generation without coming true once in awhile.