Incorporating traditions is obviously a big part of weddings, otherwise we wouldn't have the "I do"s and the white dress; something old, something new, borrowed, blue; the cake; bouquet tosses. Of course, not everyone does follow these traditions, and while most everyone wears some shade of white nowadays many choose to alter the standard flowy number for something more fun, there are cupcakes and pies instead of cake, people can be ordained online to perform your ceremony, and bouquets can be made of felt and buttons! I feel a need to decide which traditions I include based on my personal taste and aesthetic. I'm not crazy about the garter toss. Or the bouquet toss really. Because I'll just toss the bouquet straight at my sister's face any way. Okay, not true, but I really do feel that I don't have to include anything that I'm not crazy about, the wedding is for us, and anything that isn't us shouldn't be!
from weddingbee Mrs. Cherry Pie by Piknik Studios
While trying to justify my desires I found a site about the tossing of the bouquet and garter, and it mentioned the tradition stemming from people grabbing for the bride's clothing because she was considered lucky. So they would toss things to them to prevent the dress from being destroyed. And then there's the whole people party crashing the bridal suite. Not so much. I like the Finland custom of the bride being blindfolded and spinning around to pick the next to be married more than throwing a bouquet or garter. I'm not sure if it's because I go to so many weddings now as a photographer or because I know the person to catch it will not be the next to be married (I caught it twice under the age of 10), but I'm just bored with it. Maybe I'll change my mind.
Dollar dances. I wish this were okay here! It seems like it would be a lot of fun to have people pay to dance with me or Garrett, but I don't think it would fly here or with our people who would probably think it's in poor taste. That being said, I salute all of you who can and will have this tradition at your wedding.
A symbol of unity. Unity candles, not so crazy about. Tying hands together? Pretty cool. Maybe Garrett and I can be handcuffed together. I really liked what a 2000 dollar budget wedding blogger Sara did for her wedding, they made a quilt and were wrapped in it. Garrett doesn't want to be wrapped in a quilt but if I can get task oriented enough I'll have a quilt by October to somehow incorporate.
Decorating the getaway car. If anyone gets near our car with any sort of car chalk and draws anything phallic or clever we'll have a meltdown. Tin cans? Okay. I know some people would appreciate it or think it's funny, but we don't. The pic above? Actually pretty cute. Will probably only work if Martha Stewart comes to my wedding though.
Here's a pretty humorous CNN article on wedding traditions. Here's my favorite part: "And that veil she's wearing? Yeah, that was so the groom wouldn't know if he was stuck with an uggo until it was time to kiss the bride and too late to back out on the transaction. (There is also some superstitious B.S. about warding off evil spirits, but we think you'll agree that hiding a busted grill from the husband-to-be is a more practical purpose.)" I especially like the use of "uggo."
a) my friend jenn did a dollar dance at her wedding and didn't get much because no body carries cash. so it was mostly just awkward.
ReplyDeleteb) unity candles and unity sand are done to death and tacky. and binding the hands is a wiccan ceremony...so obviously it would delight my little blasphemous heart to have that done in your church blessing ceremony.
c)my very favorite tradition i found when looking for stuff for my wedding was letting a cat eat out of your left wedding shoe one week before the wedding for luck.