Now to start off, I’m not saying that wedding traditions should be kept or scrapped. No no! This is more of a pros and cons of the different wedding traditions, from my point of view anyway and from what I’ve seen at weddings.
I love the idea of some traditions being kept. It’s almost like the “history of weddings”, without the actual history of them!
Let’s start with the most well known tradition of all….
The White Dress
Historically, brides used to wear the best clothes they had, and they could be any colour- even black! It wasn’t until Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in an ivory-white gown in 1840 that white became a fashionable wedding dress colour. Queenie was a trendsetter!
The colour white resembles purity, because back in the day having sex before marriage was a sin! BLEH! Grow up! Nowadays, that is clearly not the reason, I hope! I personally believe that this tradition has been kept alive because white is just a clean colour, plus everyone looks good in white! I guess it kind of represents a “clean sheet”, a new start for the bride and the beginning of her married life!
What about having a wedding dress that isn’t white? Well, I’m 1000% all for that! Hell to the yes! Don’t get me wrong, I’m never going to judge anyone who chooses to stick to the tradition of wearing white. As I always say, it’s your day, have it your way! But, I am a lover of change and seeing traditions being bent at weddings. Okay, I’m not saying you have to wear a bright orange dress down the aisle, (although I would still love to see that), but you can put your own spin or style on your dress. Okay you may like the idea of the traditional white look but don’t want to look like every other bride out there. Well, why not try a silver sequin dress? Or have a white dress, but add a bit of colour to it like the 2019 dip dye trend! Maybe you want to go with the white dress, but why not try absolutely killing the bridal look but adding a personalised denim or leather jacket on the day!
Bride on the left of the Groom
This is such a weird one that I actually find it funny! The bride is supposedly meant to stand on the left of the groom during the wedding ceremony so that he can protect her with his left arm and use his sword with his right. Told you it was weird. Clearly this is an ancient tradition as I can’t remember the last time that I saw a groom wielding a sword on his wedding day! Traditionally, the groom would need to fight anyone who was trying to steal his wife- mostly members of her own family, since it was common for them to think she’d be “stolen”.
Now unless you have a crazy family that like to cause a scene, I think it’s safe to say that this is a tradition that doesn’t actually matter! Besides, us chicks can defend ourselves! Am I right ladies?!
Father of the bride giving her away
This is a tradition that I’m not really a fan of at all. It’s a tradition that dates back to the days when marriage was more of a business deal. Yes, the bride was actually used as an asset!! The bride got handed over to a “new owner”, usually in exchange for money or a dowry.
These days, I really really REALLY hope that this is not the reason for this tradition at weddings anymore. I think that it’s a lovely idea to have someone with you on your “last walk” before married life, but I don’t think that this job should fall entirely to the father. I feel that you should be able to have the freedom to choose whoever you’d be happiest with! You shouldn’t feel bad if you’d want someone to walk with you who isn’t your dad. Or, why not have your dad, but mum also! Or Grandparents!! How beautiful would it be to have the Grandparents!! (I’m getting carried away now!)
Couples not seeing each other the morning of the wedding
Again, this tradition dates back to the times of arranged marriages. Weddings were a business deal and the bride and groom weren’t allowed to meet each other prior to the ceremony through fear that they’ll get second thoughts and do a runner! Nowadays, people choose not to see their partner as more of a way to build up excitement before the wedding.
What I do love to see though is first looks! I’ve only ever had the chance to photograph one first look in my career, and it was the best experience ever! The grooms face lit up! The couple didn’t feel the eyes of all of their guests on them, so there was no pressure. There were only a handful of us present so the bride and groom could take in the moment to themselves. We could grab a few photos with no awkwardness and the groom gave just the same loving look when watching his wife to be walk down the aisle to see him for the second time that day!
I 1000000000% encourage couples to do a first look at their weddings. I’m yet to hear anyone say that they’ve regretted it!
Throwing of the bouquet
Now what many people don’t know is that the bouquet being carried down the aisle wasn’t just because it looked pretty. No. The reason is a bit more gross than that! It was actually carried by the bride to cover her body odour. Poor thing! Luckily these days we have perfume to spritz everywhere. And also it wouldn’t hurt to have a quick shower the morning of your wedding too!
The bouquet was also carried so that the fragrant flowers would ward off evil spirits. Which you won’t have to worry about as long as you haven’t invited any to the day!
Now the throwing of the bouquet is quite a recent tradition which has replaced the throwing of the brides garter. Apparently the groom would throw the brides garter and whichever male guest caught it, he would have first dibs on the bride as soon as the grooms back was turned. Lovely! Who needs enemies when you have friends like that!
Luckily now the bouquet is thrown instead, and whoever catches it is said to be the one who gets married next! However a few years back I caught the bouquet at my friends wedding and I’m still waiting for a ring on my finger!
Some brides don’t relish the thought of throwing their beloved bouquet which so much money has been spent on into a crowd of her drunken single friends, so some brides get a smaller (and cheaper) bouquet made which they use to throw instead. Thus the tradition is kept alive but you don’t literally throw your money away!
Let me know in the comments below what you think! Do you like the idea of keeping traditions alive? Or are you totally onboard for scrapping the old and creating some new ones?
