The History of the New Year’s Kiss — And Its Surprising Ties to Marriage Traditions

Every December 31st, as the clock counts down to midnight, millions of couples lean in for one symbolic act: the New Year’s kiss. Today, we think of it as romantic, sweet, or maybe a little superstitious, but this moment has a surprisingly long and meaningful history. The New Year’s kiss didn’t emerge out of nowhere. It evolved from ancient festivals, medieval relationship rituals, Victorian fortune-telling, and eventually Hollywood romance.

And once you trace its path, you can clearly see how the New Year’s kiss has always been connected to the same themes found in wedding traditions: renewal, unity, blessing, and partnership.

Here’s the fascinating history behind the kiss that starts the year and its ties to wedding traditions.

Ancient Roots: Renewal, Fertility, and Bonding

Long before fireworks and champagne, ancient cultures marked the turning of the year with festivals centered on renewal, a theme that runs through wedding traditions as well.

Roman Saturnalia & Calends

During Saturnalia (late December) and the Calends (early January), Romans celebrated with feasting, dancing, and yes, plenty of public kissing.

But those kisses weren’t romantic. They symbolized:

• community harmony
• goodwill
• good fortune for the coming year.

Ancient marriage rites also tied the idea of unity and prosperity to ceremonial gestures. So even early on, New Year traditions and wedding symbolism overlapped in themes of blessing and new beginnings.

Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Kissing as a Binding Gesture

In medieval Europe, winter festivals blended pagan customs with Christian celebrations. The turning of the year became a moment to seal bonds: social, emotional, and sometimes romantic.

 A Kiss as a Promise

In some communities, sharing a kiss during a threshold moment (like midnight or the start of a festival day) was believed to “bind” two people together for the year ahead.
This echoes medieval marriage rituals where the kiss was:

•  a sign of agreement,
•  a merging of households,
•  a public signal of partnership.

While a New Year’s kiss wasn't a marriage kiss, it carried the meaning of choosing someone to enter the new year with, similar to the social symbolism of choosing a spouse.

Renaissance Masquerade Balls: Masks, Identity, and Midnight Reveals

By the Renaissance era, masked balls were a common feature of New Year festivities, especially in parts of Europe.

Unmasking at Midnight

Traditionally, masks were removed at midnight, a symbolic shedding of the old year. Dancers then exchanged midnight kisses to:

• welcome renewal,
• show honesty after the “mask” of the past year,
• establish unity going forward.

This mirrors wedding symbolism beautifully: the moment two people step into a new identity together, entering a fresh chapter with openness and intention.

Victorian Superstitions: A Kiss That Predicts Your Love Life

Victorians adored romantic symbolism, and they helped transform the New Year’s kiss into a full-blown romantic superstition.

 

What Victorians Believed

They held that:

• not kissing anyone at midnight meant a year of loneliness
• kissing the wrong person brought relationship misfortune
• kissing your partner ensured loyalty and affection for the next twelve months

Victorian culture was obsessed with the idea that the first actions of the year shaped your destiny, from the “first foot” to the first words you spoke. The midnight kiss became a little love-ritual meant to bless the coming year, much like marriage superstitions meant to ensure a prosperous household.

20th Century Pop Culture: Hollywood Makes It Iconic

While the tradition already had centuries of symbolic meaning, it was the 20th century that cemented the New Year’s kiss in the public imagination.

Movies & Television

Classic Hollywood films often featured a romantic climax at midnight  lovers reunited, confessions made, or long-awaited kisses finally shared. These scenes made the midnight kiss a cultural standard.

Times Square & Mass Celebrations

As New Year’s Eve became a televised event, the image of couples kissing at midnight became universal. The tradition stopped being regional and became global, the moment the year officially “begins” with love.

Why the New Year’s Kiss Feels So Much Like a Mini Wedding Moment

When you look at its history, it becomes clear why this ritual resonates so strongly with wedding traditions. Both share foundational themes:

1. Renewal
Both weddings and New Year’s Eve mark a step into a new phase of life.
2. Unity
A kiss symbolizes partnership and connection.
3. Prosperity and Blessing
Ancient and Victorian customs both viewed the kiss as protection for the year ahead.
4. Choosing Your Companion
In medieval belief, the person you kissed at a threshold moment shaped your future, much like the meaning behind choosing a spouse.

In this way, a midnight kiss becomes more than a tradition. It’s a symbolic echo of the ideas found in marriage rituals throughout history.

Why We Still Do It Today

Even though most people no longer know the centuries of symbolism behind it, the emotional meaning of the wedding kiss remains powerful.

A New Year’s kiss represents:

• hope
• love
• intimacy
• and the desire to begin the year with the person who matters most

Like many wedding traditions, the wedding kiss's power lies in the feeling it creates,  a small ritual that carries big meaning.

The Kiss Is More than a Cute Tradition

From Roman celebrations to masquerade balls and modern Times Square traditions, the New Year’s kiss has always carried themes of renewal, unity, and shared beginnings. And when we look closely, these are the very same ideas woven into wedding traditions.

Just as the wedding kiss seals a couple’s vows and symbolizes the moment two lives join into one, the New Year’s kiss marks the start of a fresh chapter embraced together. Both gestures are small but powerful rituals that communicate love, commitment, and hope for the future.

In many ways, the kiss that begins a marriage and the kiss that begins a new year serve the same symbolic purpose: they are promises made at life’s thresholds, moments of transition where we choose to step forward with someone we love.

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How the Bridal Bouquet Became a Timeless Symbol of Love: Unveiling Its History and Significance

The bridal bouquet is a beautiful and meaningful tradition in weddings, but its origins and symbolism have evolved over centuries. Here's a deeper look into its history and significance.

Unveiling bridal bouquet history and significance

Ancient Origins: The tradition of carrying flowers by brides dates back to ancient civilizations. In ancient Rome, brides carried herbs and spices to ward off evil spirits and ensure fertility. Similarly, in ancient Greece, brides carried bouquets of herbs and flowers to symbolize new beginnings, fidelity, and hope.

 

Medieval Europe: During the Middle Ages, the bridal bouquet took on religious symbolism. Brides carried strong-smelling herbs and spices, such as garlic and dill, to ward off evil spirits. Flowers such as daisies, symbolizing innocence, and marigolds, symbolizing protection and prosperity, were also popular choices.

Victorian Era: The Victorian era saw the bridal bouquet evolve into a more elaborate and symbolic accessory. Queen Victoria's wedding in 1840 popularized the use of flowers in weddings, particularly her bouquet of snowdrops, which symbolized hope and purity. The Victorian language of flowers, or floriography, further heightened the symbolism of bouquets, with each flower carrying its own meaning.

L'Adieu. Wedding of Crown Prince Frederick William and Princess Victoria. Date: 1858. Culture: British. Accession number: B2011.12.6.

Symbolism of the bridal bouquet

The bridal bouquet is rich in symbolism, with each flower carrying its own significance. Some common floral symbolism in bridal bouquets includes:

• Roses: Symbolize love, passion, and beauty.
• Lily of the Valley: Signify purity and happiness.
• Peonies: Represent prosperity, good fortune, and a happy marriage.
• Calla Lilies: Symbolize magnificence and beauty.

Additionally, the colors and arrangement of flowers can convey specific meanings. For example, white flowers symbolize purity and innocence, while red flowers symbolize love and passion.

Modern Significance: Today, the bridal bouquet remains an essential element of weddings, albeit with more personalization and creativity. Brides often choose flowers based on their personal preferences, wedding theme, or cultural significance. Some couples incorporate heirloom jewelry or meaningful keepsakes into their bouquets, adding an extra layer of sentimentality.

The bridal bouquet has evolved from its ancient roots and superstitions as a protective charm to become a symbol of love, purity, and new beginnings. Its rich history and symbolism continue to add beauty and meaning to weddings across cultures and generations.

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Origins of Scottish wedding blackening tradition

The Scottish pre-wedding ritual known as blackening practiced in the Highlands, Islands and rural parts of Scotland is a strange wedding tradition. In my book, it is disgusting. The groom and/or bride are publicly taken out and drenched with a wide array of ingredients like slop, molasses, flour, feathers, as well as smelly disgusting things like fish guts and cow dung. I’ve read that this practice as it is done today is actually a corrupted variation of an old foot washing/hair washing tradition when the purpose of the blackening was to ensure the groom was dirty before the washing. How could today's blackening tradition be related to foot washing?

 

Blackening foot washing

I did some digging and found answers in “A Highland Wedding in Bygone Days” published in The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 13., 1888. The origins of the blackening tradition can be traced to a foot washing custom. In this case, the foot washing took place the night before the wedding and involved the groom. He and his friends gathered at his house using the guise of washing his feet for his wedding. Just like many bachelor parties today, a good deal of practical joking took place. One of these jokes included using soot, dirt, and other blackening agents mixed with the water and rubbed on the feet and even on the face of the bridegroom.

If the groom was fortunate enough to escape, his friends chased him down, and if he was lucky enough to find a good hiding place and eluded them, it was considered a good omen of future prosperity. When his friends gave up looking for him, he spent the rest of the night dancing.

Wedding shoes custom

On the Monday night after the first public announcement of their impending marriage the young couple secretly visited the shoemaker for the marriage shoes. The groom paid for both pairs. (In Greece it is still tradition for the groom to buy the bride’s shoes). They were delivered the morning of the wedding with money tucked inside, and if the groom delivered the shoes himself, he took the time to put them on her feet. However, it was perfectly acceptable for someone else to deliver the shoes. 

As for the money in the shoes, this differs from the longstanding tradition of placing a lucky Sixpence in the bride’s shoe because that is done by the bride’s father as a symbol of prosperity, love and unity. However, there is another Scottish wedding tradition in which the groom popped a silver coin under his left foot. I don’t have any more info on what money the groom slipped into her shoe or why, but if I learn more, I’ll be sure to update this section.

Other Scottish wedding superstitions

As long as we are looking back at the history of Scottish wedding traditions/superstitions, here are a few lesser-known wedding superstitions once practiced in Scotland:

• Unlucky to get married in May

• Tuesdays and Thursdays were favored for weddings because the rest of the days were thought to be unlucky.

• A day during the waxing moon was always preferred.

• When the bride entered her new house for the first time she had to be careful to step over the threshold if she would be lucky.

• A cake of bread and a cheese, both of which had been previously either broken or cut into pieces, were placed on a plate and thrown over the bride’s had as she entered the door. If the plate broke it was a good omen as to having a son as heir. 

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Photo credits: Leanne Townsend