More Old Wedding Customs

To our knowledge, no shoes were thrown after this wedding.

Throwing a shoe after the bride is the survival of a custom based upon ancient symbolical usages in connection with sandals or shoes. Delivery of a shoe was used as a testimony in transferring a possession. A man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor, and this was a testimony in Israel. Throwing a shoe on property was a symbol of new ownership. 

From these ancient practices came the old English and Scottish customs of throwing an old shoe after a bride on her departure for a new home, symbolizing that the parents gave up all right or dominion over their daughter. In Anglo-Saxon times the father delivered the bride’s shoe to the bridegroom, who touched her on the head with it to show his authority. In Turkey, the bridegroom is chased after marriage by the wedding guests and pelted with slippers. – Sausalito News, 1923

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