The wedding gift
The use of horseshoes for good luck is over 1,000 years old (read the history of lucky horseshoes here). It is logical that over the centuries that custom has also been involved in marriage. After all, everyone naturally wishes the new couple good luck for the years to come.
Symbol of luck
The horseshoe often occupies a special place in the wedding ceremony. Wishing someone good luck is always a nice gesture, but for a new bride and groom, that wish is especially appropriate.
The horseshoes are given as wedding gifts to the newly married couple to hang in their new home. This custom used to be common only among Catholics, but we are now seeing it come into use among other faiths and non-believers as well.
Silver horseshoes
In Scotland, it is traditional for the youngest of the family to give a horseshoe to the bride as she leaves the church. In gratitude, the bride returns a gift.
Wedding Dress
They say Irish brides were the first to receive a real horseshoe at the wedding. Nowadays, more subtle horseshoes are also used. For example, in the form of a pendant or a small horseshoe hanging from the bridal bouquet. Princess Diana had a small, 18-carat gold horseshoe sewn into the belt of her beautiful wedding dress. But we’ve also seen horseshoes on the wedding car and even on the napkins during dinner.
Horseshoe as a gift
Some people say the horseshoe symbolizes the moon. The ancient Greeks offered a horseshoe for the bride and groom as a fertility symbol. Hung with the points up it represented masculine power, with the points down it symbolized the flow of feminine energy.
But not all brides and grooms wait to be given a horseshoe. Between ceremonies, guests are sometimes kept busy with the game of “horseshoe tossing. It is an ancient game that is still widely played in America. We even wrote a blog about it. You can compare the game with the French ‘Jeu de boules’.
Bling, Bling
Horseshoes at weddings are increasingly taking on a “bling bling” status. The horseshoes are decorated with pearls, gems and ribbons. And often they are engraved with the names of the bride and groom and, of course, the date of the wedding. We ourselves are increasingly seeing horseshoes go back to the “Basic” version: real used horseshoes that are often gilded with 24 karat gold. As a wedding gift, this one is our best seller though.
A perfect start!
Brides and grooms today give guests a horseshoe as a “thank you” gift to give their loved ones a little of their own happiness. A perfect start to the wedding!
Greeting Cards
Horseshoe greeting cards are popping up everywhere: in wedding invitations, to the horseshoe printed on the menu for dinner. That the tables and surroundings are then decorated with real horseshoes goes without saying.
Wedding gift
In our shop you will find different designs that are perfect to give as wedding gifts.