I drove home for the weekend (Abu Dhabi, from Dubai) and when I approached my compound I saw the house decorated and it immediately brought a smile to my face. I love the way houses light up when there is a wedding in the family. It’s such a happy moment, even though some may say it’s a waste of energy/electricity, well haters go on hate. 🙂

Weddings really are such happy moments, even though I’m sure it is quite stressful. It’s fascinating how there are so many different traditions for weddings all over the world. In the arab world, much like the western world, the bride wears white, whereas in the eastern world the brides wear red. I didn’t much understand the distinction until I read that in the east eastern, red symbolises celebration, luck and auspiciousness and I can’t think of a better celebration than your wedding day.

The tradition of wearing white on your wedding day is actually more recent than I thought and apparently it does not symbolise “purity” as I was lead to believe. In 1840, queen Victoria of England wore white on her wedding day and since then people have been more prone to wearing white than any other colour. Before then, people did wear more rich colours and exclusive fabrics. In fact, in Scandinavia, they wore black on their wedding day, how curious. It does amaze me how traditions come about.

Additionally, I learnt that the colour of purity is actually considered to be blue, as you will see Virgin Mary in many depictions wearing a blue veil on her head. It could maybe even explain  one of the reasons for the tradition of blue in the rhyme “Something old, something new,  something borrowed, something blue and silver sixpence in her shoe.” 🙂

Selectively Curious©