Fighting or Falling for Traditionalism

It's crossed my mind how 'old-fashioned' a lot of the elements of a wedding can be, not that there's anything wrong with that in my eyes; I just find it so interesting that so many traditions have stuck around despite their original meaning being somewhat irrelevant anymore unless you're particularly religious. I thought I'd have a look at some of the most well-known wedding traditions and share my thoughts on them, as well as which I'll be sticking to and which I'll be throwing away!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

I'm sure many people have heard this age old saying, it's the first one that came to mind for me when I thought about wedding traditions and honestly I feel like if I should be superstitious about any tradition, then it's this one. After all, it has four elements to it and it just seems to me like it would be bad luck to ignore them, plus I think it's fun to indulge in this tradition. Here's a low down:

• Something Old - This was to represent the brides link to her family and past; in a way I think I already have this one covered since my engagement ring was my Grandma's
• Something New - A way to bring good fortune and success in your new life, typically it's the wedding dress so again this is an easy one to tick off!
• Something Borrowed - This was an item to remind the bride that her friends and family are there for her; honestly this ones got me a little stumped as I'm not sure who to borrow off or what item to borrow. Originally it was usually a handkerchief but I'm thinking maybe a piece of jewellery or something similar
• Something Blue - This one dates back to biblical times where the colour blue was used to represent purity; in weddings it was used to symbolise faithfulness and loyalty, hence why the garter usually includes the colour blue. Personally, I hadn't even considered wearing a garter, I'm looking to wear a small blue flower in my hair instead!

Wedding Veil

This one's a little bit hocus pocus but I do find it so interesting! Apparently the veil was used to ward off evil spirits by hiding the brides beauty; I'm not really interested in having a veil and never have been, for me its just an unnecessary cost.

Bridesmaids

Another one related to evil spirits, and not something I was aware of! Bridesmaids were used to confuse evil spirits, they would wear white too so that they would be targeted rather than the bride. I definitely would like to have bridesmaids but the truth is I don't have many close friends and barely any of them happen to be female! I feel like for me personally it doesn't matter what label there is, I just want the people who are important to me to be up there with me.

Time of Day

I had absolutely no idea about this one! Supposedly it's best to get married at a time where the minute hand of the clock is ascending (towards heaven apparently); honestly I think this one is a little bit contrived and you don't always have complete control over what time you get married. I may be superstitious but not that superstitious!

Wedding Gifts

I always imagine those moments in films where couples go round an expensive shop scanning all those useless kitchen items that you don't really need, to add to their list of gifts to give out to guests; I feel like this is horrendously cheeky to start with and that unless they were items you desperately needed, its not worth accumulating things to keep in your cupboard never to be used only to throw out five years later. Originally it was tradition to gift fruit to newly weds in order to encourage fertility, honestly that seems more useful to me if you like fruit! Personally if anyone wanted to gift us anything, any amount of money would be most useful, that way we could split it between putting it towards the honeymoon and to a charity of our choice.

Wedding Favours

Traditionally, guests would receive 5 sugar coated almonds, each one to symbolise fertility, wealth, health, happiness and a longevity in life. I'm a little stumped with this one because favours obviously put a fair dent in a budget wedding, however I do like giving gifts and it would be nice to have a way to thank people for sharing our special day with us. At the moment I'm rolling the idea of tumble stones/gemstones or essential oils round in my head, just something small, simple and a bit hippie is the right direction if we're going to do wedding favours. 

Confetti

I just honestly can't imagine my wedding without some form of confetti, even just to have some fun pictures when it's being thrown! Originally it was always rice that would be thrown (another one to encourage fertility supposedly) but I'm looking at something that's still natural and biodegradable but a little more pretty; currently it's dried flower petals and lavender on my mind...

Throwing The Bouquet

Ah, that old chestnut of whoever catches the bouquet marries next. Over my dead body am I throwing my bouquet anywhere, firstly because I can't throw and secondly I want to take it home to pop in a vase and then press the flowers (to put in a frame after they're done) when they're starting to look a bit ropey!

Honeymoon

This part of the wedding terrifies me, I'm awful with holidays and haven't actually been on one in about 10 years because of my anxiety. Apparently the groom should organise this as a surprise for his bride, bugger that! I'm a control freak and I want to be fully involved, know exactly where I'm going and exactly what I need to pack if I'm actually going to make it on a holiday. I'm voting for a nice staycation in England to a country cottage retreat or something similar rather than risking the stress of airports; I've got some convincing to do with my other half mind you!

Speeches

Last but not least, it's the dreaded speeches. This one worries me immensely as I always used to find this part so boring when I went to other people's weddings when I was younger. Typically it's the father of the bride, the groom and the best man/men who do speeches and if there has to be any, I'd rather keep it to that! 

Lots of food for though eh...?