Why rain is good luck on your wedding day
What is the old saying about rain on your wedding day? Often the first thing you hear on your wedding day if it starts raining is that it’s ‘good luck’. Followers of my blog will know that I’m an avid fan of researching the origins of such quirks behind wedding traditions, so I did a bit of digging and found out why rain is good luck on your wedding day.
The origin of the superstition about why rain is good luck on your wedding day may stem from the reasons I’ve discovered, or the general fact that saying something like that will somewhat ease the mind of the bride who had their heart set on a beautiful sunny day. I mean most people would plan their wedding expecting great weather, only to be disappointed with rain – kind of like what Alanis Morissette was talking about in her song ‘Ironic’.
Why rain is good luck on your wedding day
So where did the origin of the superstition come from? What does rain on your wedding day mean? The truth is that rain represents a multitude of different things depending on your culture of origin.
Rain represents fertility
One of the obvious merits of rain is the brings of new life into the world. Without rains new grass and plants cannot grow and hence represents fertility. Always a nice thing to be reminded of on your wedding day if you’re planning on starting a family with your newly wed.
Rain represents Unity
It’s not all that common at weddings in Adelaide but, a handfasting ceremony was common at all weddings in years part symbolising the combining of two souls into the union of marriage This also happens to be the origin of the saying ‘to tie the knot’. Rain would cause this ‘knot’ to become wet and hence become difficult to untie, signifying unity.
The handfasting tradtion originated from Europe and celtic roots, as as the Celts hailed from areas in Europe where it was often raining, this stands to reason.
Rain is Cleansing and Pure
Rain causes the world to become clean and represents purity. using water to cleanse one’s hands if paramount in many of the world’s religions, so rain on your wedding day is supposed to represent a clean and pure start to your lives together. It’s also supposed to represent renewal, in that you will be born again as a couple forever. It’s supposed to wash away all prior bad experiences and memories, leaving only the good for the future.
It’s very similar in the reasoning why brides traditionally wear a white dress.
Before brides wore white dresses to their weddings, the traditional colour was actually pale blue – symbolising the virgin Mary. As pale blue is also the colour often associated with water, one can make the link with rain.
Rain on wedding day represents tears
Now this could be interpreted as a good or a bad thing, but rain can represent the last tears the bride is to shed for the rest of her life – hence a good thing. But it would also represent tears that the couple is getting married! Which is a bad thing.. Depends on how you look at it this way 😛 Another origin story of this representation can be allocated to the virgin Mary in christian tradition where she would cry for all the sins in the world, thereby washing them all away.
Adaptability and Resilience
Another reason why rain might be considered good luck on your wedding day revolves around the attributes of adaptability and resilience. Just as couples face unexpected challenges and twists throughout their journey together, rain on your wedding day serves as an immediate test of adaptability. Couples who face the sudden change with grace and poise demonstrate resilience and a willingness to work together to face challenges head-on.
Overcoming such unexpected obstacles on one’s wedding day sets a precedent for the marriage ahead. It suggests that the couple can weather any storm together, facing trials and tribulations with love, understanding, and cooperation. In many ways, this adaptability in the face of rain symbolizes the flexibility required in a successful, enduring marriage.
So, instead of viewing rain as a damper on your big day, consider it a blessing in disguise, symbolizing the strength and unity of your bond that will carry you through all of life’s unpredictable moments.
Rain on your wedding day meaning?
These superstitions have a range of different origins so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where and when people started saying why rain is good luck at weddings. But most of the resources I’ve looked at having originated from Hindu custom. But honestly, rain doesn’t originate from India, or Hindu-dominated countries so the sentiment of why rain is good luck at weddings can be as wide and varied as the world itself.
