Manolo for the Brides

As you can see from this photograph of a bridal couple sometime in the 1880’s, wedding gowns have not always been white. In fact, in the American West between the 1830’s and the 1870’s the single most common color for a wedding gown was…plaid.

Plaids were fashionable throughout the period, and in a time when clothes were often handed down and remade by other family members, a white dress just wasn’t practical for the majority of brides.

Age and life experience also played a role in brides wearing colors other than white. A widow, for instance, would never consider wearing white even if she was quite young. In fact, etiquette manuals from the late Victorian period generally suggested grey or mauve as suitable colors for the woman who chose to remarry. An older bride would also be steered gently away from wearing white no matter how virginal she might be.

Then, too, there are cultures that think of some color other than white as the bridal color. German and Scandinavian women were usually married in black unless they were fairly wealthy.

Even now, some bold souls dare to choose color for their wedding days. If there’s a color you like and look good in, why not consider wearing that instead of white? You’ve certainly got a wealth of history behind you!

I’ve long been amused by the various traditions concerning luck and lack thereof for brides and grooms. Some make a certain amount of sense, such as a sunny day for the wedding being a sign of luck. Others make little or no sense. Why is it considered lucky, after all, for brides to kiss chimney sweeps? I have no clue.

Just for fun, here are some ways to make your own luck on your wedding day…though I disclaim any responsibility for bad luck incurred or good luck not delivered by following or failing to follow any of these helpful hints, particularly those which directly contradict one another:

It’s good luck if you drop the wedding ring, because that allows the bad luck to be shaken out.

It’s bad luck to drop the wedding ring. Whichever of you drops it will be the first to die.

It’s good luck to wear a silk wedding gown.

It’s bad luck to see yourself in your completed bridal finery before the wedding.

It’s good luck to wear white, which symbolizes joy or blue, which symbolizes fidelity.

It’s bad luck to wear anything black or to wear purple on your wedding day because these colors are associated with mourning and indicate early widowhood.

It’s good luck to wear a veil previously worn by a happy bride.

It’s bad luck to wear your veil with your gown before the wedding day.

It’s good luck for a bride to place a gold coin in her right shoe before walking down the aisle. By walking on gold, she’s assuring prosperity for the marriage.

It’s bad luck to allow the bride to cross the threshold of her new home without being carried. (One assumes this is because the gold coin in her shoe will finally trip her. )

It’s good luck for a bride to meet and kiss a chimney sweep on her way to the church.

It’s bad luck for her to meet up with a clergyman, police officer, lawyer, or doctor on the way to the church. No information was readily available on whether that changed if she kissed any of them.
It’s good luck for the bridal party to see a black cat, a grey horse, or an elephant on the way to church.

It’s bad luck for a pig to run across the path of the bridal party on their way to church.

It’s good luck to feed the cat before you go to your wedding, or if the cat sneezes.

It’s bad luck to marry on the same day – or even in the same year – as your sister, lest both marriages be unhappy.

It’s good luck if your wedding day is sunny, or if it snows.

It’s bad luck if your wedding day is windy, or if it rains.

It’s good luck if a baby cries during the wedding ceremony.

It’s bad luck if the bride cries at any point in the day other than during the ceremony itself.

And if the bride reads the entire ceremony before it happens, the wedding will not take place, so I’m told. Is this because she sees what she’s letting herself in for?

Manolo says, hello to the readers of the Manolo for the Brides!

The Manolo would like to announce that he has opened the discussion forum the Manolo for the Brides readers at his new Manolo’s Super Fantastic Forums. Here you may discuss in greater details all of the things about the weddings, and the bridal fashion, and the cakes, and all of the topics mentioned in the Manolo for the Brides Blog.

Click here to be taken to the Manolo for the Brides Super Fantastic Forum.