Tricky Traditions

The Marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert:
The start of most British wedding traditions

In last few weeks I have 'met' some lovely fellow brides and one of them wrote a very moving post about why she won't be following all traditions, and this got my thinking about the traditions we have chosen to follow and why.

Before I go on I want to explain something about myself: I love the pomp and ceremony of British customs, I spent my time at uni going to formals, enjoying the dressing up and 'rules' of etiquette we followed.
At heart I am a traditional girl, I like that there are things that have been done by generations (albeit since the Victorians), therefore we have chosen to follow most traditions, but not all...

My Home Village
As well as being traditional, I am a home bunny. When we started talking about weddings I knew I wanted to be getting ready at my parents house & my childhood home. For me a hotel room in a unfamiliar location
                                                                 would not have felt right.

Village church - at the bottom of my road

4 things
I am keeping to 'Something old, something new, something borrowed and something new'; there are many way to do this, but I have chosen to have an item for each 'something' - once my 'something old' has been located I will share all four with you.

A proud Dad at my sisters wedding

Given away
My dad will be giving me away - I am very lucky; I have amazing parents who are supportive and encouraging in all parts of my lift and who are still happily married. To have anyone else other than Dad walking me down the aisle would be odd.

Speeches
My worst nightmare would be lots of people speaking, I think the traditional combination reflects all the key groups; the couple, family and friends. BH would be ok if I wanted to do a speech but I feel I would of had my moment and the speech is his.

There are many other traditions we are following: wearing white dress and matching bouquet with BH buttonhole, cake cutting and first dance, but there are a couple I'm 'messing with':

                                   Top Table
In the Guildhall there is a raise Dias and they would normally have a long, one sided top table for a wedding. We, however, have chosen to sit at a round table (still with our parents, best man and maid of honour) in the middle of all our guest, we have invited them to celebrate with us so we want to be with them not 'Lording' above them.


Master of Ceremonies
I do not like Toast-masters! They are not a British tradition from what I can tell and I find them naff (sorry if you're having one, this is obviously just my opinion). I had originally asked my FiL (to be) if he could do this role and was told that "it would not be appropriate" as parents are hosts - who will do this role is still up for discussion.

Team Bride
I have never wanted a fleet of girls walking in front/behind me as I process down the aisle: I have the world best sister (yes I'm biased) and a collection of amazing friends, so when it came to choosing my adult bridesmaids I decided to get creative - my sister is my only bridesmaid, but my fabulous friends (including one guy) are my 'Team Bride' they are all taking an active role in the day, will have a buttonhole/small corsage and are joining me and my family for dinner the night before the wedding.

I think every bride & groom need to plan their day their way, traditions and etiquette change over time and there's every reason to break out the box. A traditional day has always been what I dream about and so I happy to have a formal wedding that can include many of the customs.

TTFN ~ Kate xx