Weddings Traditions and Making them Your Own

It would be fair to say that once you got engaged you started receiving advice from just about everyone you know who is married or has ever been married. Every family member and anyone who has ever been in a Wedding. Odds are people are saying “You just have to do this” Or “You must do that”. Especially when it comes to those time-honored Wedding Traditions that we all know so well.

I don’t want to be the barer of bad news, or Do I? I’ll be honest here you don’t have to do anything in fact you can DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! Yes, I said it. It’s your wedding you can do anything you want. I like to say within reason, but I have had couples do some amazing things at weddings.

When it comes to Traditions, I feel that as a Couple you can Make them Your Own and really Personalize how they suit your vision of your day. You can blend the family and cultural traditions into a modern wedding vision that suits you while still honoring your family and or culture.

Let’s Look at a Few:

1.      Not Seeing Each other Before the Ceremony

Totally honesty I still like this one if only for the reason that some of my best memories of my couples are those looks and photos when they have seen each other for the first time doing a First Look or Down the Aisle. Of course, this is changed by doing First Looks before the Ceremony and these make for amazing moments. The choice is yours to do a first Look or wait for that moment at the aisle.

2.      Cultural Tradition – Thai Wedding Tradition

Traditional Thai Wedding Ceremonies are an all day affair with 9 lovely steps. One step is easiest and most beautiful to incorporate into a wedding ceremony, the water pouring ceremony.  The couple must seat themselves at the traditional water pouring tables with the bride to the left of the groom. The a ceremonial headdress, made from one piece of cotton to signify the joining of the couple is placed upon their heads. Then they place both hands (palms together), overhanging the water pouring table and positioned above flowers that have been arranged in a water tray, to capture the water that runs off. Each of the elder guests in turn will take the ceremonial water pouring from a conch shell which has been freshly filled with water.

3.      The Bride Wears White

I will gladly admit that I love white wedding dresses, but color and pattern are amazing looks. They do play into theme and cultural tradition. In Chinese or Indian culture the bride wears red not white. White also may not be your color so how about Yellow or Pink?

Why not have more than one outift? Choose a colored dress for a First Look or a Fun colored party dress for mid reception. It is possible to have the best of both worlds.

4.      Cultural Tradition – Celtic Handfasting

Handfasting is an ancient Celtic tradition that dates back 2,000 years. The ceremony was an engagement or commitment ritual allowing the couple to live together for a year and a day to see if they were compatible; if they were not, they could merely separate. To incorporate your Celtic heritage handfasting is a wonderful way to do so. The officiant places a ribbon or cord around the newlywed's hands while saying vows of promise and commitment that they agree to aloud as their hands are bound. Couples can choose to do all four hands or just the right hands. It can be a lovely easy element to add to a ceremony.

5.      Tradition: Wedding Cake

No you do not have to have a Wedding cake, I realize this might not be a popular opinion for people but it’s the truth. Some people don’t like cake or don’t like icing (I am personally a not an icing fan). Fun twists are a cupcake tower if you want the came but in smaller bites or a dessert bar with several types of desserts that have something for everyone. You can do a candy bar for an added bit of fun, guests can have dessert or take a bag of candy home with them.

No matter the tradition you can make it your own or forget it all together. It is your wedding day, you get to decide what you want to do and not do.