There are dozens of wedding customs and traditions from cultures all over the world that you can incorporate into your wedding. Whether you want to include wedding customs and traditions from your own family or religious background or "borrow" one from another culture, here are the answers to the most common wedding customs and traditions questions.
Q. I would love to celebrate my family's Italian background at my wedding. Do you have any ideas for fun traditions I can incorporate into the celebration?
A. Incorporating your cultural background into your big day is a great way to personalize your wedding. Here are a few Italian customs we came across: In some northern Italian villages, locals shower the couple with cakes and other baked goods as they wind their way through the streets after their wedding. And instead of clanging cans on the back of the newlyweds' car, the front grill of the Italian getaway car is decorated with flowers, paving the way for a road to a happy marriage. And at some Italian weddings, a pair of white doves is released to symbolize the couple's love and happiness.
Q. What is the meaning of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue"?
A. This tradition comes from an Old English rhyme ("Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe"), and the four objects that the bride adds to her wedding outfit or carries with her on the big day are just good luck charms. Don't stress too much about them -- they are the little tokens of love your mother, sister, other relatives, and attendants will give you at the eleventh hour (although you can give them to yourself, too). Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity, although this remains largely a British custom.
Q. Why does the groom carry the bride over the threshold?
A. The ancient Romans started it: the bride had to show that she was not at all crazy about leaving her father's home, and so was dragged over the threshold to her groom's house. Ancients also believed that evil spirits, in a last-ditch effort to curse the couple, hovered at the threshold of their new home, so the bride had to be lifted to ensure that the spirits couldn't enter her body through the soles of her feet. These days, it's just fun!
-- The Knot
Photo: Metropolitan Imageworks/The Knot
RELATED LINK: 50 Wedding Facts and Trivia