General Information about Item:

• Material Lore (the items themselves), Verbal Lore (The common phrase)
• Language: English
• Region of Origin: Victorian Era, England
• Informant: Kathryn Keenan
• Date Collected: 5/23/19

Informant Data:

Kathryn Keenan is a 29 year old woman, originally from Albany, NY and was raised in an irish catholic household with many brothers and sisters. She is currently in her residency to be an Emergency pediatric doctor in Buffalo, NY. She was married to Michael Keenan, also a doctor, in the Spring of 2018.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: The practice of completing all of these items is common at American weddings and she not sure when she heard about it first. Though not superstitious about the items, she found butting them all together to be a fun challenge
• Cultural Context: By having people carry something ‘old’ and something ‘borrowed’, the link between generations is strengthened. This connects the bride to the people who have supported her and allowed her to be here today. There is also a level of sympathetic magical belief, as the bride selects items that have a joyful family history, such as lace from a successful marriage’s wedding dress.

The Item:

Ms Keenan used her wedding dress as something new as she felt it was a unique way to express herself and she wanted a modern style. As her something old she used the lace from her husband’s grandmother’s wedding dress and wrapped it around her bouquet. This connects herself and her husband’s family. For her something borrowed she used a diamond bracelet from her mother. Her something blue was a painting she asked her friend to do on the bottom of her shoe. Her friend painted “I Do” and the date of their wedding. She intentionally choose to have an item from each family and one from a friend as those were the groups she felt had supported her and that she wanted to incorporate into the wedding.

Collector: Rebecca Conway