Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Every bride knows the old rhyme and most probably follow it. But why?

According to superstition, something old ensures her friends will be faithful when they are needed and something new is supposed to to promise success in her new life.

Something borrowed means she may take with her the love of her family and blue symbolises constancy.

If a girl marries before her elder sisters, they should wear green garters at the wedding.

This is believed to date from a medieval English custom that part of the costume of an elder unmarried sister at the marriage of a younger sister was green stockings.

It is a long-held tradition that the bridegroom should not see the wedding dress before the ceremony but traditions surround the dress for the bride as well.

It is supposedly unlucky for the whole outfit to be tried on before the day and very unlucky to try the veil with the dress.

The bride should look at herself in the mirror only at the last moment and even then a final adjustment should be made.

It is a common practice to leave a few stitches of the hem to be completed on the morning of the wedding but take no pins. They are unlucky, while a spider caught in the folds of the dress will bring good fortune.

The old bridal veil of a happily married woman is lucky and many girls choose to wear their mother's or grandmother's.

After the wedding, don't let a friend try on your veil. It's supposed to mean she'll run off with your husband! There are fewer superstitions surrounding the bridegroom but it is said to be unlucky if he drops his hat, although a small horseshoe carried in his pocket will bring good luck.

No telegrams should be passed to the bridegroom on his way to the church, and any sums of money he has to pay out during the day should be offered in odd amounts.

Naming the day should not be left to chance; to change the date is considered unlucky unless there are special circumstances.

To marry during a full moon is lucky, during Lent is poor choice. 'If you marry in Lent, you're sure to repent.' Saturday has, in modern times, become the most popular day for marriages but it was not always so. An old English rhyme advises: 'Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday the best day of all. Thursday for crosses, Friday for losses, Saturday no luck at all.'

There is some doubt as to the origins of the choice of the third finger of the left hand for the wedding ring. Many think the tradition began with the Romans, who believed a vein ran straight from this finger to the heart.

Others say it began simply because the left hand is generally least used and a more practical choice for adornment.

The Egyptians used the middle finger of the left hand, while ancient Gauls and Britons favoured the little finger.

Roman Catholics preferred the right hand for wedding rings until the middle of the 18th century.

It is supposedly unlucky for a bride to try on her ring before marriage and said that whichever of the couple drops it in church shall be first to die.

It is said to be unlucky to remove a wedding ring before seven years of marriage. Could this be the seven-year itch? 'And as this round Is nowhere found To flaw, or else to sever So let our love As endless prove And pure as gold for ever' Robert Herrick.

The decorative, tiered cake popular today is said to have been created by a baker, inspired by Wren's design of St Bride's church. It bears little resemblance to the Bride cakes thrown at a new wife as she entered her home in Elizabethan times.

Today the cutting of the cake is a focal point at any reception, a tradition rooted in history when the first cut was made by the bride to ensure the marriage would be blessed by children.

The present Queen married in 1947 and her wedding cake stood 9ft high and weighed 500lb. Before the cake was presented to the palace a section was cut from the bottom tier, looped around with satin ribbon, and replaced. The cracks were iced over and the ribbon tied in a bow to mark the spot.

The ceremony of cutting the cake was easy. Using the ribbon as a guide the couple had only to cut through the icing before removing the slice by pulling the bow.