Man has always invented superstitions regarding those things that were essential to survival but shrouded in mystery. The weather was a key factor in growing food, but completely beyond his control and understanding. So what he didn’t understand, he concocted stories about and when things went well, it meant that he had performed those actions and rituals pleasing to the unseen power that held his destiny.

Securing a mate as well as producing progeny was of high importance to both men and women. Superstitions about love and marriage have been around for centuries. Some survive today and some have been forgotten. Some are fanciful, others are comical. Here are a few of the more interesting superstitions I found, and you can see how some persist in modern times.

Love and Wedding Superstitions:

If the groom drops the wedding ring during the ceremony, the marriage will be doomed.

Seeing a nun or a monk on your wedding day means you will be childless.

The spouse who goes to sleep first on the wedding day will be the first to die.

If a single girl sleeps with a piece of wedding cake under her pillow, she will dream of her future husband.

For luck a bride must wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a lucky sixpence in her shoe”.

If a girl finds a four-leaf clover and puts it in her right shoe then the next bachelor she meets will become her husband.

If a woman eats a salted herring before going to bed, she will dream of her future husband who will appear carrying a glass of water to quench her thirst.

The bride must be carried over the threshold. If the bride stumbles when entering the newlywed’s home for the first time, it will bring bad luck and harm to their marriage. So carrying the bride across the threshold prevents this from happening.

Tying shoes to the back of the couple’s car began back in Tudor times when guests threw shoes at the couple’s carriage. If it was hit then it was good luck.