SOMETHING old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Every bride knows the old rhyme and will most probably follow it - but why?

According to superstition, something old ensures her friends will be faithful when they are needed and something new is supposed to promise success in her new life, something borrowed means she may take with her the love of her family and blue symbolises constancy.

If a girl marries before her elder sisters, they should wear green garters at the wedding. This is believed to date from a medieval English custom that part of the costume of an elder unmarried sister was green stockings.

It is a long-held tradition that the bridegroom should not see the wedding dress before the ceremony but traditions surround the dress for the bride as well.

It is supposedly unlucky for the whole outfit to be tried on before the big day and very unlucky to try the veil on with the dress before the day.

The bride should look at herself in the mirror only at the last moment even then a final adjustment should be made.

It is a common practice to leave a few stitches of the hem to be completed on the morning of the wedding while a spider caught in the folds of the dress will bring good fortune.

To wear the old bridal veil of a happily married woman is lucky and many girls choose to wear their grandmother's veil.

After the wedding, don't let a friend try on your veil - it's supposed to mean she'll run off with your husband! There are fewer superstitions surrounding the bridegroom but it is said to be unlucky if he drops his hat, although a small horseshoe carried in his pocket will bring good luck.

No telegrams should be passed to the bridegroom on his way to the church, and any sums of money he has to pay out during the day should be offered in odd amounts. Naming the day should not be left to chance, since to change the date is considered unlucky unless there are exceptional circumstances.

To marry on a full moon day is lucky, during Lent is poor choice: "If you marry in Lent you are sure to repent."

Saturday has, in modern times become the most popular day for marriages but it was not always so. An old English rhyme advises:

Monday for health,

Tuesday for wealth,

Wednesday the best day of all,

Thursday for crosses,

Friday for losses,

Saturday no luck at all.

There is some doubt as to the origins of the choice of the third finger of the left hand for the wedding ring.

Many believe the tradition began with the Romans, who believed a vein ran straight from this finger to the heart.

Others believe it began simply because the left hand is generally the least used and so a more practical choice for adornment.

The Egyptians used the middle finger of the left hand while ancient Gauls and Britons favoured the little finger.

Roman Catholics preferred to use the right hand for betrothal and wedding rings until the middle of the 18th century.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.