Here's the Skinny Behind 11 Common Wedding Rituals

KerriArt on Etsy

Its wedding season, here in the US, and as a handmade jeweler, I have been busy making lots of bridal necklaces and bridesmaids gifts. This is my favorite story I have to share:  A lovely bride-customer of mine is getting married in her favorite whale-watching seaside town and ordered eight of my petite whale's tail pendants!

Handmade Recycled Sterling Whale's Tail Necklace

 

Rituals we take for granted are deeply rooted in centuries-old tradition

1. Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

Everyone knows this common rhyme used when someone gets married, but what is the meaning behind it?

Wearing "something old" symbolizes continuity with the bride's past, and  "something new" symbolizes the couple's happy future. The bride is supposed to "borrow" something from a  happily married woman in hopes that some of that person's good fortune-mojo rubs off on her; and "Something blue" denotes fidelity and love.

Something Blue Moonstone & Quartz Wire Wrapped Wedding Earrings

Well, that was easy, but what about some of the other wedding traditions and/or superstitions that have become solidly engrained in the special day?

2. Wearing a Veil

Ancient Greeks and Roman brides would wear a veil down the aisle to disguise themselves from the evil spirits who were jealous of their happiness.

3. Not Seeing Each Other Before The Wedding

This superstition dates back to the time of arranged marriages, when people believed that if the couple saw each other before the ceremony, it would give them a chance to run for the hills before their life long commitment began. 

Today, we have generalized this to the potential onset of your basic  "bad luck" if this meeting were to occur.

4. Aquamarine represents marital harmony and is said to ensure a long, happy marriage.

Earthy Aquamarine Bridal Harmony Necklace

5. Rain on Your Wedding Day

In some cultures, rain on your wedding day means good luck; in others, it symbolizes fertility and cleansing. 
I think for most today, it means lousy photos.

6. Spiders are good luck?  Find a spider inside your wedding gown before you walk down the aisle? eeeww.  According to English legend, the creepy crawler is actually a " good luck omen." I'll take my chances, thank you.

Wax Seal Spider Pendant for the Goth Bride - Eco-friendly Recycled Sterling

7. Your choice of flowers (ignore shameless plug  for my upcoming post the "Language of Flowers") Of course, roses symbolize love, but you may want to stop pining for peonies for your wedding bouquet: Apparently, they represent shame. But they smell so good.

8. Carrying the Bride Over the Threshold

This superstition began in Medieval times when many believed that a bride was extra vulnerable to evil spirits who entered through the soles of her feet. To avoid bringing in any evil spirits, the groom carried the bride into their new home. Women in India solve this problem by covering their hands and feet with elaborate Henna tattoos on their special day.

9. Using Your Married Name Before the Wedding

Some think it is tempting fate for the bride to write out her married name or monogram before she's actually married, and that the wedding will not occur if she does. If you're superstitious, hold off on your monogramming for your reception and registry items.

Antique Letterpress and Wax Seal Silver Monogram Pendants

10. Breaking Glass

In Italy, many newlyweds smash a vase or glass at their wedding, and they put a lot of muscle into it, too. The tradition says that however many pieces the glass breaks into will symbolize how many years they'll be happily married.

11. Crying on Your Wedding Day

It is supposed to be good luck for the bride to cry on her wedding day because it symbolizes that she has shed all her tears and will not have any to shed during her marriage. So go ahead let it rip, (a little) just be sure to wear waterproof mascara. And remember, you don't want blubbery red eyes in your photos!

One extra tidbit:

I love this, the Catholic tradition of "posting the banns" to announce a marriage originated as a way to ensure the bride and groom were not related. Wow, bring on the peonies!

Thank you for visiting!
Norah

All jewelry:
www.YourDailyJewels.etsy.com
www.WaxSealJewelrySource.com

Antique Wax Seal Rose Bridal Bracelet, circa 1842

sources:

www.marthastewartweddings.com
http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-customs/articles/50-wedding-traditions-superstitions-facts-trivia.aspx

History of the Livery Button

  

 A Short History of Livery Buttons and Preserving Them in Recycled Sterling Jewelry

 

Happy Bunny on Labradorite Chain - 1850's  Your Daily Jewels

Invicta -" Undefeatable" - estim. 1790.

Sometime in the 13^th century the idea of a buttonhole and button was conceived.

In the 18^th century, buttons were truly tiny works of art. Button making became a profitable sideline for many of the starving artists of the day. Typically, the most exquisite of these buttons was about the size of a 50- cent piece. 

A “livery” is an insignia, symbol, or uniform button worn by one who provided service to a noble or aristocrat to represent their relationship to their employer.

My passion, my quest, my contribution to history:

As a card-carrying member of the National Button Society, one of my favorite pastimes is scouring the earth for 18th and 19^th Century relics in order to preserve them. I cast from them, in order to create beautiful modern heirlooms for you, to be worn and passed on for centuries more.

Initial Pendants are Made from Wax Seal Stamps and Livery Buttons at Your Daily Jewels

The word itself comes from the French “livrée”, meaning delivered. Most often it would indicate that the wearer of the livery was a servant, depend-ent, follower, or friend of the owner of the “livery.” Like heraldic Crests, a livery button was a fast way to identify friend or foe in a time of war.

Notre Dame - Early 1800's - Made to Order at Your Daily Jewels

The fashion for livery buttons started among the upper classes in the mid-eighteenth century, and lasted as an accepted practice into the Edwardian era of the early twentieth century. 

After the first World War, new income tax and changing social and economic conditions quietly put an end to the era of the livered servant among the wealthy upper class. 

Scottish Livery, "I Ready Myself with Arms"

Beyond the prevalent use of Latin, there is a whole cryptic language  and symbolism to livery buttons, heraldry, and crests & shields. I am having fun learning the meaning behind many of them. 

For fascinating history you can read The Big Book of Buttons by Hughs & Lester, http://www.ukdfd.co.uk, and Fairbairns Book of Crests, London : T. C. & E. C. Jack.  I will be more sharing as I learn.

Scottish, Cuff button

Thank you for reading,

Norah

Visit Your Daily Jewels on Etsy, here:

Spero Melior - Hope for Better Things - 1832

 

5 Fantastic Ways to Celebrate Spring's Late Arrival

Yellow is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Spring.  The earth comes alive in shades of yellow.

The first bursts of Spring (in the North East,US, anyway)Forsythia and daffodils. Next, and not far behind...rainbows of tulips. 

We've earned this Spring. Let’s truly celebrate the arrival of this glorious season:

1. Let the outdoors in. Crack the windows in your car.  Open the windows in your home. Move the curtains, let the sun in. Buy yourself a bunch of fresh flowers until there is an abundance to pick from in your yard.

From Things That Fall

2. Begin the wardrobe transition. 

I am still cautious in saying pack away every coat and heavy sweater but you can start!   Make way for those lighter beauties that have been patiently waiting through this overly long, cold Winter.  If you haven't already, its time to treat yourself with a Spring shopping fling.

    
And don't forget  your jewelry box.  
Winter has its own beauty, but it is definitely the season where we might allow ourselves to get weighed down, caught in a rut. In our cozy rut, we're happy wearing heavy jewelry with our warm, heavy sweaters.  

Dig yourself out of by pulling some of the jewelry pieces that have been hiding away all Winter and wear them in fresh ways with your new Spring-Fling outfits.  Make sure to add some new jewelry to your shopping spree list!

 

Sparkling Lemon Quartz on CZ Studded Sterling Chain - Your Daily Jewels on Etsy

Sending a strong signal to celebrate Spring doesn't have to mean strong  bright colors,  you can scream "Yay Spring!" in pastels - head to toe!

Pastel Periwinkle Gemstone Earrings - Your Daily Jewels  - on Etsy

Rainbow Handmade Beach Glass Drop Necklace - Your Daily Jewels on Etsy

3. Look at your home with a lighter eye.  Have fun with color: change up throw pillows, and  artwork. Freshly painted walls is the best way to make a room feel light and new. Rearrange the furniture, focusing on the windows and away from the fireplace or TV. Don't forget fresh flowers.

4. Spend more time in the moment. Observe the miracles of Spring all around you.  Yellow everywhere.  Notice the tops of the first flowers as they push their way through the still-hardened soil; birds chirping earlier each morning; the daylight lasting a little longer; lovely April showers.

Closed Tulip by Nilavan Adams

5. Turn off the television...

   
Go for a walk. 

Fly a kite.

Climb a tree.

Play in the Daffodils

  

Read some poetry

 William Wordsworth (1770-1850) 

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Daffodils by the Sea - Cornwall, UK

Happy Spring!

Norah
YourDailyJewels.etsy.com

Sources: not otherwised noted:

Dancers Add Imagination in Unexpected Places

Jordan Matter Photography - His Book, Dancers Among Us is Available on his website.