Borrowing something from someone else in general means that you want to use it temporarily.  You'll hand it back to them when you're done.  It's the same thing in weddings; it just has more meaning to it.  Borrowing something, or Something Borrowed..., is a symbolic gesture that represents happiness.  So the person you're borrowing from is giving you their marital happiness.  The importance falls on what you borrow and who you borrow from. 

Who do you borrow from

Tradition stresses borrowing from family members or friends who are married.  You already know the person, you trust the person, and the person already knows what it's like to have their special day a reality.  To you it completes or brings you one step closer to completing the phrase "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."  To the borrower the former bride or groom's job is to pass the good luck on, and passing an item used at their wedding on to you is a good way of paying it forward.  For anyone not close to their family members, don't have any friends or without married family or friends, you can borrow something from the spouse's family.  You can lean on your soon-to-be-married partner for the borrowing part if all else fails.

What do you borrow

It's easy to borrow anything from someone.  To match wedding tradition to the letter, borrow something that relates to wedding tradition and values.  Otherwise you defeat the purpose of this good luck charm.  The borrowed item is supposed to bring long happiness to their wedding because the person they borrowed from is having a successful marriage.  The main things brides borrow on their wedding day are a wedding veil and a wedding dress.  If the dress don't fit you can borrow parts of the dress (beading, lace, etc) and add it to your dress, hair or bouquet.  Other items include jewelry, wedding vows, cuff links, a dress for the reception, a knife to cut the cake, a pocket watch, the first dance song or a penny.  Don't grab any penny; make sure this is the penny they taped to their shoe for her wedding.  Winter wedding brides can aim for a shawl, wool coat, ear muffs or other borrowed winter wear to keep warm during your wedding.&nbs p; A creative thought is to borrow their lake house, beach house, or their home/backyard as the scene for their wedding or reception.  To complete the tradition you must give the borrowed item back after the wedding. 

Something borrowed must be cherished by both individuals.  It's all about sentimental value, and the item chosen should bring sentimental value to your wedding.  For more information on something borrowed contact us.

by Opie Janzer