What does "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" mean?
“Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue” is a rhyme from the Victorian age.
Something old represents the brides past and the life with her family. Some brides choose to wear a piece of family jewellery or their mothers wedding dress.
Something new signifies good fortune and success in the bride’s new life. More often than not, the wedding dress symbolises the new item, or sometimes the bride’s shoes.
Something borrowed is to remind the couple that their family is always there for support and help. The borrowed object is usually something small, like a hair pin or something similar.
The something blue symbolises faithfulness and loyalty. This tradition dates back hundreds of years when blue represented purity. You'll find that alot of bride’s garters have a blue ribbon on it.
Why does the bride throw her bouquet?
The brides bouquet originally was carried to hide the bride’s bad odour. Hundreds of years ago, families would only wash once a year (around May or June) and by the time the wedding had come around, the bride would already be starting to smell a little. The bouquet was carried to hide the scent. This is also the reason why wedding season starts in May or June.
Traditionally, the bride also throws her bouquet at the end of the wedding. This is a still a very popular tradition of weddings today.
It is said that whoever catches the bouquet will be next to be married.