Rain On Your Wedding Day - Good Luck or Bad Luck?

by Jennifer Cram Brisbane Marriage Celebrant  © (13/02/2020)  |  Categories:  | Wedding Traditions |
As I write this it is raining. It has been for days. And it is going to pour all day. The lovely couple I’m marrying this evening is going to be soooo disappointed because they scheduled their wedding for twilight, in the gazebo where they met. But they do have a very nice Plan B. They will still be surrounded by people who love them both to bits and who wish them nothing but good, so I’ll be talking about rain during the ceremony to give them the good news about rain on a wedding day.

First, in a country where we’ve desperately needed rain for so long, rain is good. Though, obviously, we could do without flooding! But here in Australia folk memory is long, so the old English saying “Happy the Bride the sun shines on” still has traction. But hey, given how short and erratic British summers are (my father used to talk about the summer he spent in Scotland and the North of England as “It was a lovely Wednesday afternoon”), you’d expect that.

So let’s look various beliefs about rain on a wedding day, and the fact that in multiple cultures rain represents fertility, renewal, and cleansing, and, extrapolated from those beliefs, in relation to weddings, unity and tears.

Rain Means Fertility

In earlier times, when most of our ancestors directly depended on the growing of crops for survival, fertility rites were a big thing. The earth needs rain to grow new life, so it is no wonder that rain on a wedding day is seen as good luck and an indicator that the couple would have lots of healthy children.

Rain is Cleansing

After it has rained everything is so clean. So the belief arose that rain also washes away past sadness, bad luck, or negativity.

Rain Means Renewal

In agricultural communities, renewal relates to the leaves coming back, trees fruiting. Spring brings new growth. After rain everything is fresh. So rain on the wedding day came to signify a new start, where everything bad was washed away allowing the couple to start their marriage without any past baggage.

Rain Guarantees Unity

There is more than a bit of semantic connection in this one – a connection being made between the term “tying the knot” and wetness in general. A wet knot is almost impossible to untie, which means a lasting marriage.

Rain Symbolises Tears

It’s not hard to make the connection between raindrops and tears. So it is believed that rain on your wedding day symbolizes the last tears the bride will shed. The opposite belief, that rain represents the tears the bride will shed during her marriage is about the only superstition that holds a rainy wedding day to be bad luck. But honestly, happy tears are still tears, and what’s wrong with shedding happy tears during your marriage. Nothing!

Have a Solid Plan B

Let’s face it. Regardless of whether rain is good luck or bad luck, no-one enjoys having a wet bum. Umbrellas are not a solid Plan B. You need an alternative space that will keep everyone dry. It also helps if the guests don't have a long walk in the rain to reach that dry space. If you have a workable Plan B, so that your guests are not going to be uncomfortable during your wedding, you’ll have a happy start to your marriage.

There are some real pluses to cool, rainy, weather

• Your flowers won’t wilt.
• It makes for great wedding stories
• Guests have the weather to fall back on to open the small talk on first meeting someone new, as you do at a wedding
• No-one is going to get hot and bothered or pass out from the heat
• It’s great for anyone with allergies – airborne pollen and dust are reduced

And you’ll still be able to pop outside with an umbrella or two so your photographer can capture those one-of-a-kind wedding photos in the rain. You might even get a rainbow!

Thanks for reading.

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