Let’s talk about traditions for a minute.  Or two or three.  My advice here is pretty much the same as it was in our first post.  Figure out what you actually care about, and don’t worry about the rest.

I know… I’m being so helpful.  😉  But for real, there are so many traditions when it comes to weddings, trying to keep up with everything when your heart isn’t in it gets exhausting.  And expensive.  If you’re very traditional and you want everything traditional, then do it!  It’s what you love, and that is awesome.  On the flip side, if you aren’t at all traditional, then maybe pick and choose what you really like, and throw everything else out the window.  Or change it so that you do like it.

For us, I really wanted our wedding in the church I grew up in.  It’s pretty, but wasn’t really that great for wedding photos.  I didn’t care– I’d dreamed of it my entire life, so it wasn’t negotiable.

But the whole first look thing?  I was SO in to that!  I absolutely fell in love with the idea.  The idea of getting ALL our formal pictures done beforehand so we could go straight to our reception was amazing!  I’d been at far too many weddings where we waited and waited and waited and waited AND WAITED for the bride and groom to arrive at the reception.  I had visions of us walking out of the church, going straight to our cars, and greeting the guests as they arrived at the reception.  But… my handsome groom wasn’t so keen on that.  He was absolutely not going to see me before I walked down the aisle.

Womp. Womp.

Long story short, we didn’t do a first look.  And although our photographer worked as quickly as possible, some of our guests had to leave the reception before we ever even got there.  🙁

Now, I’m not saying there’s a right or a wrong in any of this… I’m just saying do what makes the both of you happy.  Give and take based off the things you want, not the things everyone else wants.  We each chose to stick with the things that were really important to us, and we don’t regret that.

So if you don’t like cake, don’t have one.  If you want to go to the Justice of the Peace and get married, do it.  If you’re like one of my brides this year and love Doctor Who, rock out a Doctor Who wedding!  If your fiance loves to hunt, use those gold shotgun shells in your decor & put a gold deer figurine as your cake topper.  One of my couples this year had their wedding three hours away in a gorgeous mountaintop venue because that’s what they love.

A wedding is so much more than just a ceremony these days– it’s a reflection of the couple, and it’s an awesome event to celebrate their love.  So embrace that, and buck tradition all you want… or embrace it!