Photo on the thumbnail courtesy of Ivan Garcia Studio.
As you can likely guess, the wedding world is filled with so many traditions and several of these traditions have truly been around for quite some time! Having said that, as the years have passed, it’s also safe to say plenty of couples have opted to stray away from the traditional practices and new ideas have consistently entered the forefront. As a venue that’s helped host hundreds of weddings over the years, we’ve been able to witness both ends of the spectrum, in regards to traditions, on plenty of occasions.
In this week’s blog post, we’re going to provide you with an overview of a few of the more well-known wedding traditions and also give a look at how couples have adapted to new alternatives in place of some of these traditional elements. All in all, the most important thing we always like to share with engaged couples who are in the wedding planning process is to remember that it’s your special day and you can craft every detail just how you’ve envisioned it. Whether that means having a traditional wedding from start-to-finish, utilizing some new ideas or a mixture of the two, that is entirely up to you! Having said that, let’s now discuss a few wedding traditions!
First Look, First Touch or Walk Down the Aisle?
Our first topic of discussion will revolve around when the couple first sees each other on their wedding day. Traditionally, this moment occurs on the walk down the aisle at the ceremony. It’s obviously an emotional moment and always produces some precious photos of the couple tying the knot. Nonetheless, over the years, first looks and first touches have gradually become more and more popular for their own reasons (both of which will take place before the ceremony).
Let’s start with a first look. This is a special moment between the couple that can help ease some of those pre-ceremony nerves and also create an experience that you’ll never forget. Furthermore, if you opt for a first look, you can also capitalize on some of the extra time available before the ceremony begins to take some photos. Whether that just be of you and your spouse-to-be, portraits with the wedding party or any others, this can be quite useful! This way you won’t feel as rushed in-between the ceremony and reception, and may even have time to mingle with guests during the cocktail hour too!
A third option to consider would be a first touch. This is similar to a first look in that it occurs before the ceremony, but it’s different due to the fact that you won’t see your significant other face-to-face. In any case, it still can be a great way to maintain the traditional aspect mentioned above, while still calming some nerves with this memorable moment. Plus, if you need another idea to incorporate with this, consider sharing a letter with your soon-to-be spouse at this moment!
Desserts at Weddings
When you think of desserts at weddings, what comes to mind first? In traditional weddings, the definitive answer to this question would be a white wedding cake. And truth be told, wedding cakes are still extremely popular and also come with various other traditions, such as freezing the top layer and enjoying it on your first anniversary. How has the wedding cake world changed over the years? For one, the talented cake creators have continued to become more and more creative! It’s truly amazing to see the complexity and beautiful designs of wedding cakes nowadays!
On the other hand, it’s also true that not all couples are huge fans of cake and as such, some are starting to shy away from this wedding tradition. The alternative option here would be dessert tables. With dessert tables, you truly do have a seemingly endless number of options to consider and can easily select a variety of tasty treats for your guests to enjoy! Additionally, there also is the option of having both a dessert table and a smaller wedding cake. In the end, just as we’ve already mentioned before on this blog post, it’s your wedding day and you can select the desserts that you like best!
Who Pays for What?
Another area where the idea of “traditions” come into play is in regards to the financial part of weddings. In terms of wedding planning, one thing that you’ll want to get ironed out fairly early is deciding who’s paying for what and finalizing the total budget for the celebration. While this isn’t always the easiest of topics to discuss, it is important to get it taken care of early on to prevent any unnecessary stress later on down the road. After all, once you have a ballpark number of how much you can spend for different aspects, such as the venue, photographer, catering and so on, it will make wedding planning so much easier!
That being said, when considering the question of who will be paying for each of the various components of your wedding, there is both a traditional approach and non-traditional approach. So…on the traditional side of things, there are certain guidelines as to which side covers each of the various items, such as venue rental, rehearsal dinner, officiant, vendors and so on. Many aspects of this traditional split have been around for years and plenty of couples still divide up the expenses in this manner.
As you can likely guess though, not every couple is required to follow these traditional guidelines word-for-word. Every couple is different and plenty of couples nowadays handle the financial part of wedding planning in a slightly different way. For some couples that may be a little older and more established in their careers, they may choose to cover most of the expenses on their own. Another good example where you may need to move away from the traditional components here would be if you’re planning on hosting a destination wedding or turning the celebration into a weekend event. Both of these are extremely common in today’s world and are both capable of impacting how you may choose to split up the bills for the wedding.
Tie the Knot at Madera Estates!
No matter if you go with a completely traditional wedding or incorporate some of these newer traditions into your big day, we would love to have the opportunity to help bring your dream wedding day to life! As the wedding industry has evolved over the years, there are simply so many options for couples to choose from. Not to mention, with a plethora of talented wedding professionals too, it never gets old seeing unique ideas that couples incorporate into their big day!
Our wedding venue, Madera Estates, is located in Conroe, TX, just north of Houston and The Woodlands. If you’re currently engaged and in the process of touring wedding venues, you’re more than welcome to schedule a free tour of our venue. This will allow you to not only see the space in-person, but also meet with a member of our team to ask any questions that you may have! To book a tour, feel free to click HERE to check out our online calendar.