Wedding Traditions / Sixpence in your shoe

Most know the wedding verse "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," but they may not know the original ending... "and a lucky sixpence in your shoe."

This rhyme originated in victorian times when the bride wore a sixpence in her shoe on her wedding day. This tradition ensured financial prosperity and a wealth of happiness for the bride and groom throughout their married life. The sixpence reference was used less over time as the sixpence became a rare coin.

The sixpence is an English coin first minted in the reign of Edward VI, it has been associated with weddings since the reign of Elizabeth I when in those times the Lord of the Manor where the bride lived would often present a sixpence as a wedding gift.

Toward the end of the seventeenth century, the tradition changed and it became the custom for the bride's parent to give the coin as a gift. It was not however until Victorian times that the present day custom evolved to that of giving a sixpence as a lucky charm to bring wealth and happiness to the married couple. As time went on the custom of using the sixpence as a good luck continued into the 1800's.

"...when the bride is completely ready to make her way from her home, she would take the sixpence from the bag on her garter and place it in her left shoe. She would walk a full circle and at the same time make a wish for her wealth. She would then take the sixpence out of the shoe and replace it in the bag. She must never look back but continue to walk through the door to marry her husband-to-be ..."

A lucky sixpence in a bride's shoe is a famous old good luck wedding tradition. Today, most brides who want to follow the “something old, something new and a sixpence in your shoe” tradition simply use a penny or another coin as a symbol of the sixpence. The Sixpense should be placed in the brides left shoe or slipper on her wedding day, as a symbol of love, happiness and Good Luck.

Other traditions to implement with your sixpence:

1. The bridal sixpence can be placed in the wedding album after the wedding and kept intact to be passed down to daughters and/or daughters-in-law to wear on their own special wedding day.

2. Choose a sixpence minted in the year of a parent or grandparent's birth or wedding anniversary as a special tribute to that person/persons.

Are you planning on sticking a sixpence in your shoe? Or maybe you recently got married and included this tradition in your special day? I'd love to hear some reader's thoughts on this?