It’s been said time and time again that your wedding day is one of the best days of your life. But what if your idea of a great day doesn’t include a fancy white gown, being centre of attention, a wedding cake and ‘something blue!?’ Well that’s totally fine too! I’m a strong believer that your wedding day should be how YOU want it to be (as a couple!) The day should be planned to make you happy and a reflection of your tastes, your ideas and your love. And if that means ditching a dinner followed by wedding cake in favor of pancakes at brunch, then why not!?
Granted, if it’s a wedding there are some things you probably should include, like some sort of ceremony for example! But try to make it your own! Sometimes we also have to include certain things to make other people happy, even if it’s not exactly our thing, but as long as making them happy makes you happy, we’re good!
Invite your 30 closest friends on a fishing boat out to an island. Wear a green frock and trainers. Have coconut shys or a tequila donkey. Ask for your guest’s favorite books as wedding gifts. Blow the entire budget on an intimate concert with your favorite band. Or, if you want the white dress, a church, the 3 course dinner and dancing, you can totally go for that too!
Overall I would say that Olivier and I have followed a fairly traditional plan for our wedding day. That’s what we wanted, but we have ditched some things and we have tried to include our personalities and ideas and what works best for us wherever we can.
For example, we are not having a sit down dinner. Half the guests are French, half are English, we have no idea who can speak both languages so a table plan would be essential but also a total nightmare to work out! Lots of people could end up sitting for 3 hours with someone they struggle to communicate with and that’s no fun for anyone! Instead we have opted for stand up tapas and Spanish ‘rationes’ from cones. With the wedding being on the Spanish border, (you can actually see Spain across the sea form our venue) Tapas is local and perfect! We like the more casual vibe and imagine our guests in deck chairs under parasols eating garlicy ‘chiperons au chorizo’ straight from the plancha.
There are no real rules and you too can ditch wedding traditions if you want to…
WHICH WEDDING TRADITIONS TO DITCH OR FOLLOW?
WEDDING FAVOURS Wedding favours are certainly not essential! If you’ve got a good idea for wedding favors and you want to give them, do. But don’t spend hours of your weekends making hand embroidered hedgehogs that will end up st the back of a cupboard (Again, unless you and all your guests happen to love hedgehogs!)
And if you think favors are a waste of money, dont bother with them at all!
CENTRAL WEDDING AISLE - Mix it up a bit! I’ve always loved the idea of doing the wedding ceremony in the round. I would have totally opted for that myself if our ceremony venue was the right shape for it! Im hoping to persuade one of my clients this summer to do their ceremony in a field in the round.
WEDDING INVITATIONS - It’s ok to go digital!
ORDER OF SERVICE - Maybe a black board would do?
BRIDESMAIDS - If your best friend is a guy, pick him!
GROOMSMEN - Maybe your sister is your true best mate?
FLOWERS - Some people have allergies!
CHAMPAGNE - What if you prefer Aperol Spritz!
WEDDING CAKE - Ice cream machine? Donut wall? Pop Tarts!?
FIRST DANCE - Not if you’ve got two left feet and hate dancing!
My point is simply just do what works for you and what will make you happy! Your family and friends love you exactly as you are, so just do you!
Lou x
