Went to a bridal shower today and .........Learn something new everyday!

Lol... our wedding will have approx 100 people - so that's approx 40-50 households... if each give a gift... well I'm gonna be one busy lady with all of those kids...!!!

Never heard of the knife thing...

I've heard the superstition that giving knives for wedding gifts will lead to a broken marriage. But meh, I don't believe that. No idea about the penny or ribbon.

"Legend has it that you can help reverse any bad luck from receiving this gift by giving the gift giver a penny (at least) for the knife. This, in effect, makes the gift a purchase!"

http://www.wednet.com/wedding-gifts/wedding-articles/giving-knives-as-wedding-gifts

Oh thats funny, I kept trying to figure out what the penny on taped to the box meant!...lol!

Yep! Jamie T you hit the nail on the head! It's very bad luck to give knives as a gift. I got two sets of knives and a carving set at my shower my mom (very superstitios) made me hunt down the gift givers to give them a penny.

Seems silly

The way I heard it as a kid, if you give someone a knife, it will cut your friendship. Thus, if someone wants to give you a knife but is superstitious, they will make you pay a penny for it, so they haven't "given" it.

I have ALWAYS heard of the ribbon thing. If you break a ribbon or two then you will have that many children. Most brides that i have seen are careful about unwrapping their presents, then they will intentionally break a few for the number of children they want.

Also, A friend of mine received a pocket knife for Christmas last year and the 'giver' gave him a penny to reverse any back luck associated with it.

The knives/penny thing I have heard of but the ribbon thing is new to me. Very interesting!

This is a more random superstition, but it's also bad luck to give shoes as a gift. In means the recipient will walk out of your life.

Here's some links about wedding superstitions. Some of them are pretty interesting. I had never heard about the penny thing before. I guess you do learn something new each day!

http://www.blissweddings.com/library/superstitions2.asp

http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-customs/articles/50-wedding-traditions-superstitions-facts-trivia.aspx

Interesting info! Does anyone know anymore? How about why do we save the top tier of the wedding cake for a year?

My mother is very superstitious. She will not take anything sharp related from anyone. You must lay it down before she will pick it up. If she decides to give knives or the like as gifts each one will have a penny attached to it not the box because penny off sets any bad luck they may bring.

@Future Mrs L: The tradition of saving the top tier of the wedding cake has its roots in late 19th century Britain, when a grand cake was baked for christenings. It was assumed that the christening would occur within a year after the wedding ceremony, so the two ceremonies were often linked, as were the cakes. When three-tier cakes became popular, people would use the bottom tier for the reception, give out the middle tier so guests could take it home, and save the top tier for the christening.

(cont.)

As people started postponing childbearing, the tradition morphed from serving the cake at the first christening to serving the cake on the first anniversary. Also, British wedding cake is traditionally fruit cake with marzipan and royal icing, which survives freezing a lot better than American sponge cakes. Thus, many American cake bakeries these days try to discourage the saving of the top tier by providing a separate small cake free for the first anniversary.

I have never heard of these either! Intresting!

Learning something new as well. Never heard of this before.

Learning something new as well. Never heard of this before.