In today’s wedding world, the bride’s shoes are one of her most important accessories! And even though they are usually hidden underneath her extravagant gown, we fully agree that every bride’s wedding shoes must be completely and totally fabulous! But why are wedding shoes such a big deal? Who first thought that wedding shoes should be something to pay attention to?
We can owe the high heeled trend to the French queen Catherine de Medici, who was one of the first brides to rock the stilettos down the aisle. On a fun side note, turning our eyes to the British monarchy, Queen Victoria was one of the first brides to wear a white gown on her big day! Up until 1840, blue or black were the go to hues.
In the olden days, shoes played more of an active role in the wedding! The Anglo-Saxon brides used to toss shoes at the bridesmaids, the same way we toss the bouquet today; one surely sounds less painful than the other! British brides used to add coins into their shoes, completing the popular rhyme that every bride today lives by: “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue- and a sixpence in her shoe.” Of course now many brides use their shoes to fufill the required “blue.”
In Turkey, the bride gets all of her single bridesmaids to sign the bottom of her shoes, and after her night of drinking and dancing, whosever name has faded the most will be the next to marry! (And with all the other girls’ names remaining, this also serves as a fun way to remember all of your bridesmaids, as if you could ever forget!) At a Columbian wedding, the next lucky bride is selected when all the single ladies (hello, Beyonce reference!) hide one of their shoes under the bride’s dress. Whichever shoe the groom pulls out will be the next to make the trip down the aisle! And at Irish weddings, a close friend gets the honor of throwing a lucky shoe over the bride’s head as the newlyweds leave the church, though we’re not so sure about what designates a lucky shoe.
The next time you go to a wedding, when you see the wedding party slip away to tie tin cans to the back of the getaway car, keep in mind that the tradition started by tying shoes instead! It probably didn’t take the bridesmaids too long to realize their shoes were a little too precious to keep the tradition going!
When it comes time to walk down the aisle, keep in mind that your shoes can always say more than a permanent place in your closet!
