Your wedding day is a wonderful moment to celebrate love, one you want to go off without a hitch. According to many, every aspect of the wedding process will affect your Big Day, even the date you choose to celebrate it on.
Setting the date is often the first big step in the wedding process which will frame every consequent decision you make. Religion, superstition, astrology and culture argue that there are certain days, dates and months more auspicious for weddings, while others are no-goes if you want good luck on your Big Day. If you are particularly superstitious, you might want to avoid some of these wedding days.
Lucky wedding days
Judaism:
In various religions, certain days are favoured as lucky. Those that practice Judaism are likely to consider Tuesdays to be particularly good days for weddings, because the Book of Genesis says “And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10 and 12) twice in the verse about the creation of the third day.
Jewish couples also favour the beginning of the month for weddings, as their religion’s calendar is lunar and believes that the moon renews itself every month.
Astrology:
Astrology believers should look to the moon for guidance. According to astrologers, the position and look of the moon and planets can have a deep impact on our lives. Changes in its shape and appearance are said to affect our inner beings. A waxing moon is considered lucky, while a waning moon is seen as unlucky.
A full moon is considered highly lucky on your wedding day. Astrologers believe that a full moon brings harmony, as the lunar yin energy is perfectly balanced with the solar yang energy. As the forms of the moon is said to influence our feelings, a full moon encourages people to express their inner feelings fully. The full moon also brings seeds of intention to fruition.
The new moon is the first lunar phase, representing the resetting of the lunar cycle and letting go of restrictions or fears holding you back. This allows you to move forward with clarity. Couples looking to follow astrology should plan their wedding at least 12 hours after the new moon for optimal results.
Astrology lovers should consult the their zodiac signs before setting a date, as dates for auspicious marriages range in luck depending on personal star signs. Auspicious dates are said to bless the couple with a good and prosperous marriage while unlucky dates will curse them.
Roman mythology:
April and June seem to be the most auspicious months to get married according to Roman mythology. April is closely linked with Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, while June is named after Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage and commitment. Juno was the wife of Zeus and lorded for her unwavering commitment to him. She also was the one that paired soulmates, making her the mastermind behind ancient marriages, according to Roman mythology.
Chinese culture:
Chinese culture considers August 8 a particularly auspicious date because the word for the number eight sounds similar to their word for wealth or fortune. As a result, the eighth day of the eighth month is a highly symbolic date to get married.
Unlucky wedding days:
Judaism:
Jewish couples are less likely to marry on a Friday because in their religion Friday is the day of rest, also known as Shabbat.
Folklore:
An ancient Celtic folk rhyme suggests that Saturdays are unlucky days to wed. The rhyme goes: “Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday the best day of all, Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, and Saturday no luck at all.”
According to folklore, July is an unlucky month for weddings. An old rhyme from the 1800s lamenting the fates of married couples based on their wedding dates predicted July marriages would curse newlyweds.
“Marry when June roses blow, Over land and sea you’ll go,” the rhyme goes, “Those who in July do wed Must labour [sic] for their daily bread”.
American folklore records from the 1930s echo this sentiment, saying that marriages from this month “are apt to be crisscrossed with sunshine and shadow”.
Roman mythology:
July also contained many mourning days for the ancient Romans, where they commemorated battles and no religious practices were followed, making many parts of the month off-limits for weddings.
Another unlucky month is May, according to Roman mythology. This month is said to be unlucky because it is between April and June, the two months closely associated with Roman goddesses Venus and Juno. Marrying in May could thus be seen as an insult to the two goddesses. This month was also traditionally when Romans celebrated Lemuria, a festival of the dead.
Chinese culture:
Chinese culture views April 4 as a bad day for a wedding as their word for the number four is similar to their word for death, thus symbolising bad luck for the fourth day of the fourth month. Many Chinese buildings and apartments even omit the fourth floor completely because of this superstition.
Unlucky number 13:
The number 13 is considered unlucky across various cultures in the world, and as a result, the 13th of any month is often seen as bad. Friday the 13th is considered particularly unlucky as it is closely associated with the horror film franchise of the same name.
Some Italians are superstitious of Friday the 17th, as the roman numeral form of the date, XVII, can be rearranged into “VIXI”, which translates from Latin into the meaning “my life is over”.
Picture: Unsplash
