Ozark Wedding Superstitions and Sayings

One of the oldest, long standing wedding traditions is the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". Although many brides may not believe that they will experience bad luck if they fail to have these items, most brides do - just in case.

In the Ozark region, many much older traditions about weddings are still handed down so for the Ozark bride, there are many more little things that should be done - just in case.

Today, few brides follow these old ways but they remain interesting to ponder and fun to consider. And, for brides with even a single superstitious bone, they can pay attention if they like!

Some of the old sayings deal with getting married. Sweep under a young lady's feet can end her chances of marrying one day. Knock over a chair and there won't be a wedding for at least a year. Some say that riding a mule will make a woman single all her life.

Cut fingernails on Sundays and girls will not marry. (Another prohibition about cutting nails on Sunday says the devil will be with you all week so most folks trim their nails on Saturday!)

Don't be greedy and take the last biscuit from the plate or you might not ever get married!

Marriage is more imminent for girls who trip over a dog or cat, has a bee in her shoe, sees a bird after dark falls, or has a butterfly hover around her face.

Once a wedding is planned, never change the wedding date or it can cause bad luck to the happy couple. Don't marry in months that contain the letter "A" - for unknown reasons, this is also believed to be bad luck so don't marry in May, March, February, January, April, or August! One specific Ozark saying says "Marry in May, rue the day" as well.

A bride who sews is lucky because she who makes her own wedding dress secures luck for the future. Like other regions, white is a popular color for the wedding gown. Marry in white, always be right is one saying but blue is another good color for weddings, hence, marry in blue, always be true. There are sayings for every color - marry in brown, live in town, marry in black, don't look back, marry in green, never be seen but the one color to avoid is red. The saying goes marry in red, wish you were dead!