Something I love about weddings is the traditions that make the day all the more special. However, there are SO many and some, in my opinion, are either a little dated or just not 'us'.
So, today, I thought it would be fun to share some of the traditions we will and will not be partaking in! I'd love to know if you have any special traditions that you did for your wedding that you recommend, too!
Traditions We Will Be Doing
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I'll share this in a separate blog post, but I love this one.
Cutting the cake. I am actually against this. I think it's kind of dumb, to be honest, but my fiancé really wants to do it and my parents and family think we should do it, too. I don't dislike it enough to put up a fight so we are cutting the cake! I actually didn't want a wedding cake at all. In my opinion, they are just a waste of money and I don't like wedding cake. My idea was to saber a champagne bottle instead, haha!!
Keeping the top of the cake for our 1-year anniversary. I don't know what it is about the whole cake situation, but I also think this is silly. I don't want to be storing a cake in my freezer for an entire year and I also would just much rather have freshly baked cake from the same bakery. However, my fiancé wants to do it, and again, it's not something I feel strongly enough about, so we are doing it.
Pittsburgh Cookie Table. This is a very Pittsburgh-centric thing, so those who don't live in the city probably won't get it. It's a long-standing tradition, even the New York Times wrote an article about it. But, it's a Pittsburgh tradition to have a big table filled with cookies. Some from bakeries around the city, and also many different types of cookies baked by family members. This is one of my absolute favorite traditions and we are totally doing this. I am a hardcore Pittsburgher at heart and this is one way to incorporate the city that is so dear to me. Our wedding will be very traditional and formal and I love that we are doing a cookie table to make it a little more personal and homemade! I'll have little cards by each tray of cookies to share what family member made them! We will have cute little boxes for guests to take cookies with them at the end of the night.
Veil with a blusher. You can read my post about this, here. I think this tradition is on its way out but I absolutely love it. It's so bridal. When I was trying on wedding dresses, as soon as the veil was put on, I instantly felt like a bride and that is what brought tears to my eyes! I especially think the blusher is something that a lot of brides are opting out of (according to my Instagram poll, 75% who took the poll did not wear a blusher), which I can totally see why. However, the traditionalist in me just loves it. Annie in Father of the Bride wore a blusher and Kate Middleton wore a blusher so that's enough inspiration for me right there!
Not seeing each other before the wedding. You can read my post about this, here. We are not doing a first look. We both felt really strongly about not seeing each other until I was walking down the aisle. We also plan on not communicating in any way as soon as the rehearsal dinner ends up until I walk down the aisle.
Bachelor Party. My fiancé will be doing a traditional bachelor party with his friends!
Dad walking me down the aisle. This is such a no brainer! I love my dad and wouldn't have it any other way. We will be walking down the aisle to this song and I get goosebumps every time I hear it.
Sorority 'Belt'. This one might be unique to my sorority (ZTA) but on our initiation night, our bigs tied a pale blue satin ribbon with our name and date on it around our waists. You're only ever supposed to wear it on one other occasion and that is your wedding day. I still have mine and will be wearing it under my dress!
Flower Girl and Ring Bearer. Excited to have Andrew's niece and nephew a part of our ceremony. You can read about how we asked them, here.
First Dance, Father-Daughter, Mother-Son Dances. Love these!!
Honeymoon. Yes!!! Post to come!
Sorority 'Belt'. This one might be unique to my sorority (ZTA) but on our initiation night, our bigs tied a pale blue satin ribbon with our name and date on it around our waists. You're only ever supposed to wear it on one other occasion and that is your wedding day. I still have mine and will be wearing it under my dress!
Flower Girl and Ring Bearer. Excited to have Andrew's niece and nephew a part of our ceremony. You can read about how we asked them, here.
First Dance, Father-Daughter, Mother-Son Dances. Love these!!
Honeymoon. Yes!!! Post to come!
Traditions We Won't Be Doing
Bouquet Toss. I'm just not into it.
Garter Toss. Again, not into it.
Organized Dancing. Like the electric slide, etc.
Bridal Party. We are just having a maid of honor and best man. Simple. You can read more about it, here.
Burying the bourbon. I kind of love this tradition, but we are definitely not allowed to bury bourbon outside of our church or venue, ha!
Bridal Party. We are just having a maid of honor and best man. Simple. You can read more about it, here.
Burying the bourbon. I kind of love this tradition, but we are definitely not allowed to bury bourbon outside of our church or venue, ha!
Saving our monogram for after the wedding. It just doesn't make sense for us because I just bought a house and then we got engaged and we are moving in together before we say 'I Do'. I'm happily using my married monogram in the new house already and have absolutely no issues with it. I will, however, not be using my married monogram on things that I would wear like jewelry, etc. You can read more about this, here.
Favors. In lieu of favors, we are donating what we would have spent on favors to Tracy's Dogs where I got Henry. It's a nice way for us to also somewhat add a little Henry to the wedding!
Groom's Cake. Since we are doing such a big cookie table, I just thought it would be overkill with a groom's cake and my fiancé was OK with that!
Bachelorette Party. I don't plan on having a traditional bachelorette party. I'll share more on this in a separate post!
Bridal Shower. I plan on doing something slightly different than a traditional shower... a post to come on this in the coming months.
Writing our vows. We are getting married in a Catholic church so we will not be writing our own vows but we plan on writing each other letters to read while getting ready.
Cake Pulls. I like when weddings do this, but it's just not making the list- plus, I only have a maid of honor and not an entire bridal party!
Cake Pulls. I like when weddings do this, but it's just not making the list- plus, I only have a maid of honor and not an entire bridal party!
18 comments:
When I was planning my wedding we thought that we would have to freeze the top tier of our cake to save for our one year anniversary. However the bakery we chose let us know that they would bake us a small anniversary cake if we called them a week in advance of our anniversary date. This way we had a fresh anniversary cake and saved room in our freezer. Check with your bakery of choice, they may do the same!
Sydney, like you, we opted out of several so-called "must have" traditions (no cake here, no unity candle, no bouquet/garter) because they weren't our personality/preference as a couple. However, I suggest that you don't tell the world about the elements you're not thrilled with including, but kept just because A wanted them. Once you've decided as a couple on something, you should support it in public - you two are a unit :)
I love this! I'm the same, some wedding traditions that seem necessary to a lot of people I'm just not into. I've never heard of a cake pull before, I had to google that one!
Something nontraditional I did was I had my mom and dad walk be down the aisle. They both equally raised me. I wanted them both by my side as I came down the aisle.
Anonymous,
I’m 100% ok with my fiancé and I having differing opinions- especially on something as frivolous as a cake. I am still my own person with my own thoughts and feelings! I guess I’m modern in that sense. Don’t feel the need to act like I absolutely love the idea of a wedding cake, if I don’t! Happy to do something that makes my fiancé happy and I know he has been the same way to me with some wedding planning things! I think that’s what any relationship is about- compromise and making the other happy!
You do you, and I’ll do me :)
Sydney, I'm the anon from above. I guess I would feel a bit publicly shamed in your fiance's shoes! Didn't mean to imply you always have to agree with your partner 100%, or that you shouldn't admit (generally) that you're including elements in your wedding based on your individual preferences, but sharing that you think his preferred tradition is dumb is something I personally would keep to myself.
Anyway, I enjoy your blog and have been reading for years, that just stuck out to me as disrespectful to Andrew/less than the gracious personality you try to display.
No worries, anonymous, thanks for clarifying!! I never included my relationship online up until we got engaged and only share now when it applies to wedding things for this exact reason. People can certainly judge and take things the wrong way and I totally get that- you’re totally entitled to your own opinion!
Just for future reference for anyone wondering, my fiancé sees anything that is posted in his regard before it goes live! He had no issue with this post :)
I appreciate your kind words about my blog and graciousness, sorry if I came off as disrespectful to you, I can promise you that my fiancé doesn’t not see it that way, take it that way and I would certainly never disrespect anyone and certainly not him!!
That's interesting about the Sorority Belt, I'm a ZTA also and have never heard about it, but that is really cool.
The Sorority Belt thing is really interesting. I am a ZTA also and have never heard about it. I think its really cool.
Looooove the Pittsburgh cookie table! I was fortunate enough to marry into a Pittsburgh family many years ago and that was one of the best aspects of our reception in PA! We live in the south and had a destination wedding, but my in-laws threw a beautiful reception with hundreds and hundreds of cookies :) My southern parents still talk about that cookie table.
Love your traditions! I just don’t understand freezing the top tier of the cake..I would think it would taste terrible after a year in the freezer!
I also immensely dislike when a bride and groom smashed cake in each other’s face, and not fond of the garter toss.
There’s no doubt that your wedding will be beautifully done!
Love your traditions! I just don’t understand freezing the top tier of the cake..I would think it would taste terrible after a year in the freezer!
I also immensely dislike when a bride and groom smashed cake in each other’s face, and not fond of the garter toss.
There’s no doubt that your wedding will be beautifully done!
I am getting married in 2 weeks, and am having a traditional Catholic wedding too, with the same processional song. My mom is from Pittsburgh, so we will be introducing the cookie table to Dallas!
I like that you're doing your own thing in some regards ie. bridal party, bachelorette party. I think people tend to follow society instead of thinking outside the box on what they actually want! curious if you'll hire a videographer?
Anonymous, yes, we have hired a videographer!
The wedding cake tradition has a meaning which might help you enjoy it a little bit more...It is a good luck tradition... cutting it together represents the first shared task as a married couple, slicing down to the bottom symbolizes the depth of love, and feeding it to each other signifies the commitment to nurture and provide. If you understand that, it makes it less about the cake and more about the symbolism.
I wore my Zta belt under my wedding dress too!
I’m way older than you, but also a Zeta and wore my ribbon under my dress! ZLAM
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