.Santa Clause Red Suit.         .Santa Clause Red Suit.        ... 

Now you do have something that is Jewish in origin.   The wedding ring has it's origin in the days when women were considered property and a wedding ceremony was the consummation of a business deal.   In Jewish law of that day, in order for a business exchange to be legal, both parties had to receive something of value.   The groom received the bride, and the bride was given a piece of plain gold the value of which could easily be assessed.   The gold became transformed into a ring.  Thus was born the gold wedding ring.

The symbolism of the circle actually goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians who considered the circle as a symbol of eternity, because neither has a beginning or an end.

In the days when that line was part of a wedding ceremony, marriages were arranged by the families.   Commonly the couple met for the very first time at the ceremony.  

The public proclamation was simply a way of saying that if anybody had a claim to the property being exchanged, they were required to declare that right prior to the transfer of ownership.   Why?   Because if anyone had a claim and  did not speak up, their future right to make a  claim became null and void.     Except in the movies, this line is rarely ever used anymore.   

This, too, came from antiquity, but it's origin was religious rather than secular.   It was derived from religious teachings in which the woman was not simply a slave to the husband's ego as some men later came to believe, but rather her obedience was part of an ancient, sacred tradition.   The man was obligated to obey God and the woman was to obey God by way of her husband who, in those days,  was the undisputed head of the household.

This ritual is still one more way of taking the inner aspects of life such as  love, joy, peace, harmony, etc.  which are invisible and symbolically representing them in the physical world.

  Something Old:  Represents the past --  your tradition -- your roots.   It symbolizes that which has stood the test of time and is included in your wedding as a symbol of longevity to assist your marriage in also standing the test of time.  It also symbolizes the links to the family and to your life prior to marriage.

  Something New:   Represents the future.   Is symbolizes that your marriage is a fresh step into a new life, into a bright, enduring, and joy-filled future.

  Something Borrowed:   Represents taking something from an already existing happy marriage and installing it in your own marriage.   It's similar to ( in baking) taking a yeast culture and starting a fresh batch of bread or in computer language, copying a style or format from an existing document and inserting into a new document.   Think of it a symbolic boost into a joy-filled marriage borrowed from  an already existing happy marriage.

Something Blue:   Represents the purity, the fidelity, the compassion, and the love in your relationship.

Good Luck:   You will often hear the above statement without the fifth item being mentioned.   Here it is in it's full form:   "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue, and a penny in your shoe."   The penny symbolizes good luck.

White represents purity.   This tradition  dates back to more puritanical times and represented the bride being a virgin on her wedding day.

Until somewhere is the 1800's, red was a common color.   Red symbolizes power and passion, and passion is another word for sex.   Here, for example, is a line from  Renaissance wedding vow:  "... to be bonny and buxom at bed and at board, to love and to cherish, till death us depart..." 

 Obviously the American puritans who began railing against sex in the early 1800's won out because white became the norm, and in all the years I've been officiating weddings, I've yet to hear a bride in her wedding ceremony publicly promise to be good in bed.  Here's a personal note from an associate that demonstrates the symbolism of the white dress:  

"In 1947, when I was seven years old, I was taken to my aunt's wedding in their local Roman Catholic church.   I didn't know why at the time, but I was very much aware that my aunt wore a green dress at the wedding and her dress color was a big deal with the guests.   Even today, I still have a vividly picture of that sober faced woman standing up in the front of the church wearing a green dress.   It's hard to imagine the disgrace, the shame, the humility of that event and the courage it took for her to stand there."

Regarding wedding colors, we had one groom ask, "If white represents purity and virginity, why do most grooms and most ministers wear black?"  We don't have an answer to that question other than to say we don't wear black.  Our robes are off white, or traditional white.

This dates back to Medieval times  when the wedding quests attended the consummation of the marriage.   Tossing the garter was born out of the undressing of the bride, and was a way of distracting the guests so that they would keep their hands off the bride.