Marry on Thursday - It's a Good Day for it

by Jennifer Cram - Brisbane Marriage Celebrant  ©  18 July 2019  | Days of the Week |

The old wedding rhyme about how lucky various days of the week are for marrying, goes
But, that is one of one of many wedding superstitions for which there is absolutely no evidence. I suspect the rhyme has more to do with what rhymes than with actual fact.

Why we call it Thursday

If  you look at older beliefs and traditions, and delve into the history of why we call the fourth day of the week,  Thursday,  it is clear that there are many interesting and positive historical reasons for choosing to marry on a Thursday.

The Babylonians knew of only five planets, so they named five days after them, and tagged the other two days after the Sun and the Moon. The Romans adopted the practice when they standardised on a seven day week (used to be 8 days in the Roman week, how confusing was that?)

Taking their lead from the Babylonians, they named what we call Thursday for the planet and the god, Jupiter, king of the gods, god of the sky and thunder, and husband of the goddess Juno,  goddess of marriage and childbirth. Jupiter (also called Jove) was especially concerned with concerned with oaths, treaties, and leagues, and it was in the presence of his priest that the most ancient and sacred form of marriage (confarreatio) took place.

In Rome, Thursday  was called Dies Jovis (or Jove's Day) and Romance languages such as Spanish, French, and Italian reflect this in what they call Thursday (jueves, jeudi, giovedi)- so how did we English-speakers get Thursday?  History again - our English names for days of the week have been influenced by Germanic and Norse myths and the Anglo-Saxon roots of our language. When Germanic and Norse people adapted the Roman system by identifying the Roman gods with their own deities, Jove/Jupiter, god of the sky and thunder, was associated with Thor, the hammer-wielding Norse god of thunder, strength, and protection.

Some fun reasons for getting married on Thursday

Torsdag (Norwegian for Thursday) was believed to be the day when magic works best, so the best day to make an important decision! It follows, then, that a day ruled by Jupiter/Thor is a great day to marry.

Benefits of having your wedding on a Thursday

Although Thursday is quite rapidly becoming the new Friday, when it comes to scheduling weddings, being a weekday, a Thursday is good for

• Lower venue costs
• Supplier discounts
• Limiting the size of your guest list (a Thursday wedding will generally have more declines than one held on a day that precedes or follows hard on the weekend, unless, of course, the next day is a public holiday, which always happens at Easter)
  
• Weddings with short planning time
• Greater possibility of availability of the venue if you've got your heart set on a very popular one
  

You can make marrying on a Thursday a lot easier if you

• Check whether your chosen Thursday is a public holiday either where you are getting married or where your guests are traveling from.
  
• Send out your save the dates as early as possible
• Make sure you mention that your wedding is on a Thursday(as well as the date)
• Tell your nearest and dearest by you've picked that particular Thursday (and why you really do want them at your wedding
• Be prepared for people declining - and don't take it personally

Thanks for reading!