Several thoughts are found on this tradition:
- To protect the bride from evil spirits that were thought to be lying in wait under the threshold.
- Roman times when it was believed that if the bride stumbled when entering the newlywed’s home for the first time, it would bring bad luck and harm to their marriage. Carrying the bride across the threshold was thought to prevent this from happening.
- Tradition dictates the new wife must enter he home by the main door and, to avoid bad luck, she must never trip or fall–hence the custom that a bride should be carried over the threshold.