Something borrowed, something blue.

That's right kiddies. I'm getting married.

As the fiance and I have been starting to plan our wedding, I've been doing some research on weddings and wedding traditions. And man, did I find some interesting ones. If anyone cares, read on.

Chinese tradition states that couples should marry on the half hour, when the hands of the clock are moving up toward the top of the clock, so you begin your new life together on the upswing.

In mexican tradition, the groom hands the bride 13 gold coins during the ceremony to represent his ability to support her. I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like a whole lot to me....

Us german brides carry salt and bread on our wedding day to symbolize good luck and wealth. During the ceremony, when the couple is kneeling on the altar, the groom puts his knee on the bride's skirt hem to show that he'll "keep her in line". When they stand up, though, the bride will stomp on the grooms foot to show him who's boss.

As for you italians, after your wedding the locals will bring their cakes and baked goods into the street to your car as you drive past their houses on your way to the reception. Lucky bastards.
Greeks have so many traditions, there is not enough time for me to talk about all of them. A greek couple will wear crowns on their heads, symbolizing that the marriage is nobel, and the couple will now begin their dynasty together. They will exchange these crowns three times during the ceremony. They then walk around the altar table three times. They also exchange their wedding bands - you guessed it - three times. At the reception, you break dishes for good luck... and at the end of the reception, all guests must leave with a bag of almonds covered in chocolate, which sounds good, but each guest must leave with an odd number of candies. What is THAT about?

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the irish believed that if the sun shone on the bride it would bring good luck to the couple. On the morning of the wedding, it was also good luck to see three magpies, and to hear a cuckoo bird. Does that mean all the irish brides ran around on the morning of their wedding trying to find three damn magpies and an annoying bird? Well whether they find them or not, irish men were known for having cold feet on their wedding day. Once the bride and groom were in the church, the guests would lock the door to keep the groom inside so he couldn't run away. Promising start to a marriage.

I'm marrying into polish heritage, where instead of getting the usual rice thrown at you as you exit the church, you get oats and barley pelted at you. Good luck, I suppose. A popular polish tradition during the reception is the "unveiling". Guests link arms and form a circle around the bride, and her mother takes the bride's veil off (because she's coming into womanhood) and she'll place it on the head of the maid of honor, who will then waltz with the best man. The maid of honor then passes the veil to the next bridesmaid in line, who dances with the next groomsman, and so on. This is the bride's way of offering good fortune to her maids for when they eventually get hitched. Polish families also do something called the "dollar dance". Men and women form two lines and pay a dollar each to dance with the bride or groom, pinning the money to their clothes. Traditionally, it was a way to help the couple set up house and begin their life together. These days, it's used as honeymoon spending money.

And, of course, there's the old standard tradition, "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". These are all good luck charms. Something old = continuity. Something new = optimism for the future. Something borrowed = borrowed happines. Something blue = purity, love, fidelity. Along with these things, the bride is to wear a sixpence in her shoe for good fortune.

One last thing I'd like to comment on, and then I swear I'm done. I've found that these pesky "evil spirits" are out to ruin your special day, one way or another. The white aisle runner used in church ceremonies is to ward off evil spirits who might be lurking in the ground. Back in the day, brides were actually carried to their wedding, just to be extra careful. The same thing applies when leaving the ceremony. You know the cans that some people tie to the back of the newlyweds car? The noise they create frightens away evil spirits. But your work is still not done - you HAVE to be careful when entering your new home. Evil spirits actually hang out there at the threshold, waiting for you to walk through so they can jump into your feet and enter your body. Sounds a little kooky to me.

If you're still reading this blog, you get two thumbs up from me. You also get a whole bunch of knowledge that you probably didn't care too much about, unless you are getting married as well, and even then you probably didn't care.

To my friends who read this at work because they didn't have anything better to do, rock on.

P.S. Work Time Fun is awesome. The end.