Question by allie777: what is the history of horseshoes at weddings?
my two best friends are getting married this year and i'm bridesmaid for both weddings and am trying to find a nice gift. i have seen a lot of horseshoes that i can get engraved with their names and it said about the bride carrying it on the day but what wondering what the history was? is it a british thing? i am australian and have never known anyone back home to have a horseshoe at their wedding but then again i have never been to many weddings!
Best answer:
Answer by mariluv505
I think it means good luck...
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The horseshoe, for some unknown reason, has always been a sign of good luck. Years ago people would hang them over their front door in the hope that they became lucky.
I am australian too and once horseshoes were common for luck at weddings. YOu dont see them as much any more tho. Horseshoes are supposed to be lucky and if a bride carries one it is to bring her luck but she must carry it with the open end facing up or the luck drains out. Back in the 70′s and 80′s when my older sisters were getting married, they all had tiny silver horseshoes on thier cake and carried satin horseshoes as trinkets. I havent seen a sign of any horseshoes at the last couple of weddings I have been to tho.
Back in the day only really rich people could afford horses. I guess the logic was they were rich, happy, and therefore lucky so having a piece of that would perhaps rub off and finding them was rare. At first only found, used horseshoes were lucky…then as all things do it grew to be all horseshoes. Usually when you reshoe a horse the blacksmith keeps the old one to melt down and make new ones…..think of it like the superstition of wishing on a shooting star.
Honestly though, an engraved silver horseshoe isn’t a great gift. Think about it….what are you going to do with an engraved horseshoe. If you want to include the sentiment include something more useful like a inexpensive set of them or even buy a horseshoe game and just include one as part of another gift.
Small porcelain horsehoes were carried in the bouquets of Irish brides for good luck!
Long ago brides carried real horse shoes, but now a days its a bit much. Some brides wear a bracelet with a horseshoe charm or carry a lace handkerchief with a horseshoe embroidered into it. The horseshoe is always carried upside down so the luck doesn’t run out.
It’s a Good Luck thing. You’ll find that there are some confetti like that as well. Just enjoy yourself and have a good time.
In the UK, there is a custom of people (usually children) greeting a just-married bride at the church door with silver horseshoes on ribbon. As well as horseshoes, there are rolling pins, wooden spoons, chimney sweeps, black cats, wishbones, boots, shoes, bells, etc. The collective name is lucky tokens, and they used to be made of painted cardboard, but now usually of plastic. They are available to buy in stationery or greeting card shops. The bride carries them with her bouquet for the rest of the wedding, and at the reception, they are put on display around the cake with the bouquets.
I think it was at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York that the carriage was decorated with silver horsehoes, the most popular token.
Most British wedding confettis feature horsehoes.
Horseshoes in this country are reckoned to be lucky. If the gap in the horseshoe is at the top, the good luck is kept in, if at the bottom, the bad luck is let out.
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