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Historic Robinswood House Summer Wedding

Last summer I had the joy and pleasure of officiating John & Desiree’s wedding at Robinswood House in Bellevue.  The color scheme that Desiree chose was stunning with shades of orange and pink.  For the ceremony, the couple hung frames from a tree and added beautiful bouquets provided by Ravenna Bloom.  Desiree’s son walked her down the aisle and the two couldn’t have looked more happy.   During the ceremony the family participated in the tradition of blending sands, which  included lots of smiles and giggles.  The dinner was held on the outdoor upper patio where tables were adorned with colorful vintage tablecloths.  Dessert, provided by Sweet Side Cake & Al A Mode Pies  included a traditional cake but also an assortment of pies which fit in perfectly for this fun summer wedding.  These special moments and many more were captured by Heather at One Love Photo.  Congratulations Desiree and John!

Seattle Wedding Officiants, Elaine Way, Nondenominational Minister, Seattle Wedding, Robinswood House

Seattle Wedding Officiants, Elaine Way, Nondenominational Minister, Seattle Wedding, Robinswood House

Seattle Wedding Officiants, Elaine Way, Nondenominational Minister, Seattle Wedding, Robinswood House

Seattle Wedding Officiants, Elaine Way, Nondenominational Minister, Seattle Wedding, Robinswood House

Seattle Wedding Officiants, Elaine Way, Nondenominational Minister, Seattle Wedding, Robinswood House

Seattle Wedding Officiants, Elaine Way, Nondenominational Minister, Seattle Wedding, Robinswood House

Customs, Rituals & Traditions: Why do grooms carry brides over the threshold?

Each week I will examine a wedding custom, ritual or tradition that has been passed from generation to generation.  We’ll look at it’s origin and how it has influenced the lives of our ancestors and hot it impacts us today.  We’ll also look at how we create our own customs and how these new traditions are a reaction to and a reflection of our changing world.

Bride on wedding day being carried over threshold

Bride being carried over threshold

Carrying the Bride: Exactly Why?

As it turns out, weddings in the days of yore sometimes followed kidnappings. This explains not only the role of the best man but also why the bride and groom customarily leave the wedding celebration before everyone else. It’s symbolic of the groom stealing away with his bride, whisking her from her family and into a new life with him. The kidnapping theme also explains why grooms carry their brides over the threshold in some cultures. In Medieval Europe, carrying a bride into her new home prevented her from seeming too enthusiastic about losing her virginity. By picking her up and taking her into their home, the groom provided an alibi for his wife’s chastity.

Interestingly, this isn’t the only origin and rationale for a groom carrying his bride across the threshold after their wedding. It appears that this custom also developed in other cultures for different reasons. Chief among these reasons was to thwart bad luck and evil spirits.

Bride and groom over the threshold

Bride being happily carried over the threshold

Superstitious Western Europeans believed that a bride who tripped over the threshold of her new home would irrevocably bring bad luck to her home and marriage. Since the husband appears to have been immune from such happenstance, the groom carrying the bride into the home proved a good way to avoid such a mishap altogether. This fear of tripping appears to have its roots in ancient Roman culture, which held a similar belief.

Much, if not all, of the original meaning behind a groom carrying his bride across the threshold has been lost in modern Western weddings. It’s remarkable that the practice continues, even if a newly wed couple isn’t entirely sure why to do it. It’s almost as if a collective memory of the danger with which a threshold may be fraught remains. And after all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Did you get carried over the threshold on your wedding day?  Was your threshold in some other country on your honeymoon?  I invite you to share your threshold stories with my readers!

 

Customs, Rituals & Traditions: Something Old, Something New…

Each week I will examine a wedding custom, ritual or tradition that has been passed from generation to generation.  We’ll look at it’s origin and how it has influenced the lives of our ancestors and hot it impacts us today.  We’ll also look at how we create our own customs and how these new traditions are a reaction to and a reflection of our changing world.

Where did the wedding custom of “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” come from?

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

The next line of this old saying actually hints at its origin. The complete phrase is:

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

A sixpence is a coin that was minted in Britain from 1551 to 1967. It was made of silver and worth six pennies. So this wedding tradition is definitely English, and many sources say that it began in the Victorian era.

Each item in this poem represents a good-luck token for the bride. If she carries all of them on her wedding day, her marriage will be happy. “Something old” symbolizes continuity with the bride’s family and the past. “Something new” means optimism and hope for the bride’s new life ahead. “Something borrowed” is usually an item from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. The borrowed item also reminds the bride that she can depend on her friends and family.

As for the colorful item, blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity has long dressed the Virgin Mary in blue, so purity was associated with the color. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns, as evidenced in proverbs like, “Marry in blue, lover be true.”

And finally, a silver sixpence in the bride’s shoe represents wealth and financial security. It may date back to a Scottish custom of a groom putting a silver coin under his foot for good luck. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted, and many companies sell keepsake sixpences for weddings.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Please share with the readers the items you collected for your Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue tradition on your your wedding day.