Our Top 5 Tips for Breaking Wedding Traditions
When you are getting married you will offered a lot of advice from friends, family and suppliers without necessarily asking for it. During the planning stages, this can get stressful and you can easily feel torn between what you want to do and what tradition dictates. Just because something is traditional doesn’t mean you have to do it! In this little blog article, we are exploring the five wedding traditions that are fine to break. Honestly, nothing bad will happen…
1) You don’t have to wear white, cream or ivory
Queen Victoria started this tradition in 1840 when she married Prince Albert and it became super popular from then on. Technically Queen Victoria was a bit of a rebel because coloured dresses were the ‘done’ thing before her wedding, so embrace the non-traditional and opt for a coloured dress like these gorgeous ones below
2) You don’t have to wait until you walk down the aisle to see each other
This is one that may divide the masses, but then again we are happy to go against the grain. If you are extremely nervous or are having your ceremony later in the day, why not arrange a ‘First-Look’ with your photographer. Basically in a private location such as in the garden of a hotel, or even in a forest (if you are having a particularly green wedding), your partner waits for you with their eyes closed ready for your arrival, your photographer then captures the moment you first see each other in all your finery. The photographs that usually come from a first look are nearly always our favourites!!
3) You don’t have to have a first dance
We have had several couples who completely forgo this tradition. Let’s face it, dancing in-front of a crowd, even when they are your nearest and dearest can really cause heart palpitations in some couples. If that is the case for you both, then why do it? Just ask your band or DJ to fill the dance floor and join right in!
4) You don’t have to have a traditional wedding party
You may feel overwhelmed by having to choose one best man, or one maid of honour. If that is the case, then break the norm! Some of the funniest best man speeches we have witnessed have been where there have been double the trouble! Or in the instance of this wedding below, the lovely Bride had a Man of Honour seen dutifully applying her lip gloss before some photos were taken! This was taken by Shelley at Toast Photography – you can see the images here.
5) You don’t have to toss your bouquet
We had one bride a couple of years ago that threw her bouquet (before we could shout ‘No!’) before any formal photos had been taken – she got a bit excited after having a photo taken on a balcony and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Needless to say, from quite a height, the bouquet didn’t stand a chance and she was a bit upset that she had done it! Some brides like to preserve their bouquets and others like to give them to a special family member such as a Grandma. If you don’t want to throw your beautifully constructed bouquet, then don’t!
We have to confess that we do not own these photos and they came from the following sources; first blue wedding dress, the beachy blue dress, Black wedding dress, Ombre, Oscar de la Renta Gold Sequin gown, First look 1 and 2.