Something old A bride may wear or carry something old to represent her continued ties to her family and her oldlife. Many brides wear a piece of family jewelry as their old item. Some brides wear the weddingdress worn by their mother or grandmother. In many cases, something old may also besomething borrowed.
Something new Wearing something new is supposed to represent success and hope in the bride’s new life and inher marriage. If the bride purchased her wedding dress new, it may represent her new item, butany item that is new may be used. Something “new” is usually the easiest category1 to fill.
Something borrowed The borrowed item should be something borrowed from a friend that is happily married. It issuggested that their happiness will rub off on2 you and bring lasting happiness to your marriage.Some brides borrow an item of clothing, a piece of jewelry, a handkerchief or perhaps a beadedpurse.
Something blue Wearing something blue dates back to biblical times when a blue wedding dress was worn torepresent purity, fidelity4 and love. Over time this has changed from wearing a blue dress towearing just a blue band around the bottom of the bride’s wedding dress to modern times where itis commonplace for the bride to wear a blue garter5.
Silver sixpence Placing a silver sixpence in the bride’s left shoe is said to be a symbol of wealth. This not only refersto financial wealth, but also a wealth of happiness and joy throughout her married life. Since mostbrides probably don’t even know what a sixpence is, this part of the tradition is not used veryoften in modern times. However, if a bride would like to include it in her wedding, she can purchasea silver sixpence from many companies that sell bridal supplies such as garters and invitations.
Some brides are more traditional than other and may take a great deal of care in selecting one itemfor each category. It may be traditional for the women in their families to wear the same piece ofjewelry. Other brides aren’t bound by tradition but still may choose to carry out the custom at someoneelse’s request. If they don’t want to carry numerous items, they may simply carry twohandkerchiefs in a small beaded bag–hey may choose to buy a new, white handkerchief andborrow a blue one from a family member. That would provide them with something new–the whitehandkerchief, as well as something that is old, borrowed and blue–the blue handkerchief. Thehandkerchief just may come in handy6 during the wedding for drying their joyful tears.