“Something old, something new,

Something borrowed, something blue,

And a silver sixpence in her shoe.”

We’ve heard it for years across generations but where did it come from? Like a lot of our wedding traditions today, we can trace this one back to the Victorian era. Something old, something new are pretty explanatory, but where did the blue come from?

a symbol of purity

Blue is actually the traditional color of purity, not white. And for many, many years and across many western cultures was considered to be the true color conveying honesty, purity, and feminine virtue. Looking to religious paintings, Mother Mary in Catholicism and Orthodoxy is traditionally depicted wearing blue. Taking inspiration from this, many brides across the centuries favored a dress in blue for their wedding day. It wasn’t until Queen Victoria popularized the white wedding dress concept that the preference shifted. A wedding day could use all the luck one can muster, so blue makes is appearance once again in the form of warding off the evil eye. Many believe wearing something blue can counteract any ill-intentions on your wedding day, calm any nervous energy and otherwise ensure a happy and smooth running day devoid of back luck!

updating the tradition

As the tradition started, people in Lancashire, England devised a clever way to incorporate the “something blue” into their wedding days: garters! In fact, wearing a blue garter or garter with blue ribbon detail continues well into today. But there are many, many more ways to incorporate this tradition and play with one of the most versatile and beautiful colors we have to work with in the wedding world. Let’s take a look:

stationary

A slam dunk way to incorporate blue into your day is through your stationary! From formal suite to table details like place cards and table numbers, you can play around with tone to get just the right shade of blue to compliment the rest of your color palette. We love this gorgeous sketch and hand-calligraphy style suite created especially for us by Lichen Ink for our Style Shoot at Markree Castle. 

 

a sweet note

A wedding cake and desserts are fantastic ways to express our something blue on your wedding day! Use it as a main color like this sapphire blue beauty designed to mimic the flow of water from our Style Shoot at Markree Castle created just for us by the incredibly talented Cupcakes and Counting.

Or, the incredibly delicate pops of blue from Mackenzie and Ryan’s cake and custom macarons, adding the perfect touch!

Table Accents

A pop of blue can help focus the eye to the other gorgeous colors going on with your table. Laney and Dave’s gorgeous wedding was filled with hints of blue throughout the day, from invitations to dinner, but we really love the unexpected pop of light and dark blue tones in the taper candles! The lovely neutral helps draw the eye to the incredible greenery and soft colors pink and peach tones in her floral arrangements! Also love the pops of vintage French blue in the votives (available exclusively for our Waterlily Wedding clients!)

run away with it

Rich tones are always in on the wedding scene, but blues are really making a statement that we don’t see going anywhere. Greys and blues are the new “it” neutrals, so don’t be afraid to use them in a variety of tones on your table and work in colors. Blue in particular is a perfect neutral when working with bold, bright colors.  We utilized a variety of shades for our style shoot, from a serene grey-blue tone as the underlay table cloth to the rich sapphire blue tone velvet runner and royal blue satin napkins. Combined together it creates such a great, rich texture that stands up to the flowers and gilded room but lets the flowers really shine. We are so excited to offer these velvet runners available for rent exclusively for our Waterlily Wedding clients starting in spring 2019!

sapphire stones

Speaking of sapphires, consider incorporating something blue into your jewelry or even engagement ring! Sapphire blue is a classic stone and trends are moving away from diamonds back to colored stones. A stunning sapphire ring can be the perfect accessory and piece of good luck on your day. We love this gorgeous design by Joseph Jewelry.

Bridal Party Goals

Blue is a color that works on everyone — every hair color, skin tone, eye color. The right tone works with every season, and in Ireland with the abundance of greenery and natural backdrops, works just perfectly no matter where your venue is located. Definitely worth considering for your bridal party colors.  Mackenzie and Ryan hit a home run with their bridal party look, using a spectrum of blue tones from aqua to deep midnight blue and everything in between.

Accessories We Love

One of our all time favorite looks was from Jennifer and Scott.  Their Ballybur castle elopement was full of amazing details, including this stunning cobalt blue leather jacket! The “something blue” doesn’t need to be so predictable — a leather jacket is so brilliant for style and vibe and as you see just made the photos next level. Scott matched in a bold cobalt tie, and we love the pops of cobalt in Jennifer’s sweet floral crown. Definitely check out more of their details on the post!

Bouquet Accents

If you’re wanting a pop of blue that’s going to make a statement but not overtake your look, we love Laney’s choice in incorporating the color into her bridal bouquet. A gorgeous blue ribbon in complimentary tone added the perfect pop of color to her overall look and kept it within the theme.

Such a great color for 2019 and 2020. Blue is here to stay and with so many tones and shades available, it’s an excellent color to consider adding to your wedding day.

Make sure to check back here on the BLOG to see how lots of our 2019 clients are expressing their “something blue”!