Something borrowed...

For my something borrowed I turned to my sister-in-law, because I knew she had a pile of really pretty tiaras and hair pins hiding away in her bathroom from her wedding. When I went round to see her a few days after the engagement I had fund looking through her box and trying on different bits and pieces.

To start with a found a very pretty tiara, but when I was looking at it again a few weeks ago I noticed that half of it was silver and half gold - it looked as if the gold plating had rubbed off. It was still very pretty, but I wasn't sure about wearing it, especially as I'd found another tiara when I was looking around for various wedding bits.

I asked sister-in-law to bring her box of bits with her this weekend when I had my hair trial, and I found some very pretty hair pins that reminded me of snowflakes - just right for a winter wedding! I haven't shared anything else about the wedding outfit, but since this is something borrowed I feel as if I can, because it's already been seen before.

So without revealing any details about my hair, these are the hair pins - my 'something borrowed'.

Something old...

I'm quite traditional at heart, and ever since I was little I've been thinking about what I'd wear for my 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue'.

I'd considered an old piece of jewellery that I'd had for years and loved. I had a pair of pearl earrings at one point that would have been perfect for a wedding, but sadly they went missing when I moved house. I also wondered about an old ring, if whoever I married gave me a family heirloom or if we used my grandmother's engagement ring which I inherited as my ring.

Then I considered underwear. I'm not talking about really old skanky underwear, just something that I hadn't bought new especially for the wedding. I had a friend who got married who wore an old pair of blue pants for her wedding, along with tights borrowed from her sister and a new dress. But while I'm sure I'd be quite happy wearing comfortable few month old pants from my sock drawer, it's not exactly something I can show people if they want to know what I'm doing for my something old.

I hadn't really thought much about it in the few days after the proposal until my Mom mentioned her wedding dress. She still has it, safely in a box in the loft, so I asked if I could see it. It was a very typical wedding dress of the 1970s, with a high neck, long sleeves, and made of beautiful lace. The underskirt (made of crinoline, I believe) had unfortunately yellowed while it had been in storage, but the lace was still beautifully white. As well as the dress, Mom had kept her veil and cap, and they were both still in beautiful condition too. While we were ooh-ing and ah-ing over the dress, Mom produced several pearl necklaces in case I wanted to wear one of those for the wedding.

I said I wouldn't reveal any secrets in case darling beardy man wants to read this blog, so I'll just leave it that I found my something old out of the selection of beautiful things that Mom showed me, and after the wedding I'll post a picture of what my gorgeous something old was.

Something blue...

My beautiful ring arrived on Wednesday, especially made by Charlotte, a friend of lovely beardy man. It's silver with aquamarine (my birthstone), and Charlotte is going to make our wedding rings as well. It's absolutely gorgeous and I absolutely adore it!

The old, new, borrowed, blue tradition

I'm very traditional at heart and so I really wanted to include this old tradition into my wedding. I was intrigued about where it came from though, so I did a bit of research and found out that it dates to at least the late Victorian era when it was included in a book of folklore, with the addition of a last line 'and a silver sixpence in your shoe'.

Historically, the items would be given to the bride by her family and bridesmaids for luck and as tokens of love. I was interested in what each part signified though.

Something Old is to represent the past, and where the bride comes from. Because it is being used on the wedding day it is also a sign of a link to the future. One of the common something olds would be for the bride to have a piece of lace or other fabric from her mother's dress sewn inside her own gown. Other something olds are jewellery, or a button from the bride's father's coat which can be sewn inside the dress of even included in a bouquet.

Something New signifies a new beginning and a new life with the bride and her new husband. The most common new thing is the wedding dress itself, but as so many new things are usually bought for a wedding, it could be anything from a hair accessory to shoes.

Something Borrowed, depending on where you look, either shows borrowed happiness or that the bride's friends and family will always be there to support her when help is needed in the future. It goes without saying that the borrowed item must be returned after the wedding, or it is no longer borrowed! Often brides will borrow jewellery, and if it is a family heirloom that is borrowed it can also be counted as the something old, but I've known friends to borrow pairs of tights from their sisters or a hanky from the groom as well.

Something Blue can be seen to symbolise faithfulness, purity, loyalty, love, modesty and fidelity. Blue items don't have to be a bright shade, and could be hidden from view if the blue item is a garter. I've seen blue pants, blue bridesmaid dresses, a single blue flower in a bouquet, and blue stones in jewellery. Some people use blue for their eye make up, and others will have blue-soled shoes.