Personalised hand painted wedding horseshoes being good luck charms for the Bride and Groom are a top favourite gift amongst my customers, I love creating these as they are always so different and the personalised messages on the back are always so heart-warming. I’ve been wondering about how the tradition of giving the Bride a wedding good luck horseshoe gift came about so I’ve been doing some research. I found the history of wedding horseshoes quite fascinating.
In the village where I grew up in Northumberland, the Bride is given a lucky horseshoe on the way out of church and will then find the church gates are tied shut by the children of the village until the Bride and Groom throw lucky pennies through the gates. It’s always good planning to have someone in the family carrying scissors to cut the string on the gates in case the children run off and leave you stranded in the church yard! My Dad carried a pair in his top hat for me!
In Scotland it is traditional for the Page Boy to give the Bride a silver coloured wedding horseshoe as she leaves church. It is used as a symbol of good luck and fertility.
Other findings I found on the origins of the Wedding horseshoe are linked with magical good luck. Real metal horseshoes for horses are made from iron and it is thought to be lucky because iron comes from a marriage of rock and fire.
Others believe the luck comes from the legend about St. Dunstan who trapped the Devil and made him promise never to enter the house of a Christian. The Devil could recognise a Christian household by the horseshoe hanging above the front door. It has to be hanging up the right way like a “U”. A variation I found on this is one of a myth with the Devil having asked the Blacksmith to shoe his single hoof. The Blacksmith realised the person was the Devil, so he fitted the shoe on the Devil in a painful way until he asked for mercy. He released the pain when the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe was displayed. That will be why you see many an old cottage or house with horseshoes above the front door. We had best get hanging up our horseshoes!
You can see some of the different designs I have created on personalised handmade ceramic horseshoes following this link here. Remember they are all unique so they are made to match your designs. If you’d like to order one for a Wedding or Wedding anniversary you are attending this summer go over to here.
Thanks for reading, best wishes Jane, Katy & Kelvin the kilns