Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue And a silver sixpence in your shoe This popular wedding rhyme originated in England in Victorian times although many of customs referred to in it are much older. The bride should include one of each item on her person during her wedding to ensure future happiness and prosperity. Something Old Traditionally this was a piece of clothing or an old garter which was given to the bride by a happily married woman to symbolise the transfer of her happiness in marriage to the new bride. Nowadays many brides wear a piece of family jewellery or her mother’s or grandmother’s wedding gown. Something New This is meant to symbolise the new and prosperous future of the young couple and can be anything that the bride wishes. Often, the wedding gown is chosen as the new item Something Borrowed This is usually a family heirloom or treasured possession which is borrowed from the bride's family or from a close female friend and is to remind the bride that friends and family will be there for her when help is needed. The bride must return the item to ensure good luck. Something Blue This symbolises faithfulness and loyalty and is believed to date back to Biblical times, when a bride would wear a blue ribbon in her hair to represent fidelity. Over time this has evolved from wearing blue clothes to wearing a blue band around the bottom of the dress and today is usually represented by a blue or blue trimmed garter or underwear. Silver Sixpence The placing of a silver sixpence in the bride's left shoe was to ensure wealth in the couples married life, both financial and also a wealth of happiness and joy. Today most brides use a penny in their shoe during the ceremony as silver sixpences are not easily available now due to disappearing from the UK currency some years ago. Weddings Index Main Index Click here to Bookmark this site!