July 2, 2012

Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue Ideas for Your Wedding

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I’m Jessica and I’m a money expert, speaker, Accredited Financial Counsellor Canada®, host of the More Money Podcast, and am currently writing my first book with HarperCollins Canada (2025).
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Besides having our wedding at a Catholic church, I don’t see the event as traditional. Okay fine, I will be wearing a white dress, my BF and I will be sleeping at different houses the night before, and I don’t want him to see me before I walk down the aisle, but other than that I think our wedding will be relatively modern.

For instance, there will be absolutely no garter tossing, rice throwing, or matchy-match anything at my wedding. I’m sorry but I seriously can’t stand it when weddings only have two wedding colours (as tradition goes). I love the colours blue and white, but I don’t want everything to be blue and white! Forgive me if I just insulted your whole wedding colour scheme. I haven’t actually chosen any of my wedding colours yet but I did find a great site called design-seeds.com that is super helpful.

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That being said, there is one old tradition I’ve always wanted to include in my wedding since I was a little girl, and I know most of you know it by heart too: something old, something blue, something borrowed, something blue. Apparently, the full version actually ends with “and a silver sixpence in her shoe”. Since I have no idea what a sixpence is, I’m gonna hold off-putting any change in my sky-high heels.

Obviously, the idea behind this tradition is to give the bride good luck but more specifically “Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity” (The Knot). Yikes, maybe I should look for a sixpence, good fortune and prosperity aren’t two things I want to go without!

I know I’ve got about 11 months until my wedding, but I really love to plan things way in advance, so lately I’ve been trying to figure out what my something old, new, borrowed, and blue should be. I’ve definitely got “the something new” covered with my dress, shoes, veil, and basically everything that I won’t be DIYing.

As for the old, borrowed, and blue things, I am at a total loss. I don’t have any family heirlooms that I could use as “a something old”, I don’t know what to borrow and from whom, and I don’t want to resort to wearing blue underwear because I can’t think of anything better. So, I did a bit of research and I’ve compiled a list of some pretty good options for all of you future brides out there, who like me, currently considering dying your hair smurf blue just to complete this silly tradition.

Something Old

  • A vintage purse or piece of jewellery from a second-hand shop
  • A second-hand wedding dress
  • Your signature perfume
  • The first piece of jewellery given to you by your fiancé
  • A piece of your baby blanket tucked into your bouquet
  • The front page of a newspaper on the day you were born kept in your purse, pocket or bouquet
  • An old family photo

Something New

  • Let’s be honest, this one isn’t hard and just like me, most of what you’ll be wearing will probably be new

Something Borrowed

  • Your wedding dress or a piece of jewellery from a relative or friend
  • A handkerchief, cufflink, or other item from your dad or another male relative
  • A photo from your parents’ or grandparents’ wedding
  • A book of poetry from the library (small enough to keep in your purse or pocket)

Something Blue

  • Your wedding shoes
  • A necklace, earrings, or a bracelet
  • Crystals glued to the soles of your shoes
  • A mirror compact
  • A purse
  • A garter
  • Your nails (to be subtle, just paint your toes)
  • Your bouquet
  • A ribbon tied around your bouquet
  • A hair accessory
  • A sash or belt for your wedding dress
  • A handkerchief
  • Your eye shadow
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