Over the years, many a bride has confided that from "day one" of her engagement, the pressure was on to not only have the best dress, décor, food and drinks, but also to wow everyone with the most unique cake, favors, vows...you name it.
Now a bride myself, I think it’s amazing that there are so many fun, unconventional ideas out there, and I definitely want our day to be as personalized and reflective of our personalities as possible. After all, what fun is a cookie-cutter wedding? But in my eyes, there’s a difference between adding unique touches that are truly meaningful to my fiancé and I, and simply feeling pressured or compelled to shun all things traditional simply out of fear that others might view our plans, or worse, us, as boring, old-fashioned or outright dull.
I’ve long described my personal style as classic with a modern twist, and when it comes to the wedding, you’d better believe I’m adding plenty of personal touches that will bring individuality to the big day without overdoing it. The biggest of these is our “California Romance” theme, which lets us tie in city postcards as table name cards, serve signature sangria and a Mexican buffet, as well as showcase vineyard-style grapevine decorations on the wedding cake and in our décor.
But, on the other hand, I’m definitely sticking with certain traditional aspects I love for their elegance and timelessness. Topping this list are the classic three-tiered cake, bouquets oozing with roses, and a golf club ballroom reception.
In my eyes, our wedding day is a beautiful opportunity to celebrate our love for each other, as well as our friends and family members, while giving everyone a taste of our style, personalities, and the things that make us tick. A showoff, look-at-how-great-creative-and-better-than-you-we-are affair is definitely not for us.
If traditional touches suit a bride’s style, I say they are just as unique as the latest and greatest trends to grace the wedding world, mostly because they reflect her desires in a way that is genuine and sincere. For her to strive to be different simply for the sake of being different would be inauthentic and phony. And, as we all know too well, that’s not unique at all.
What are your unique wedding day ideas, and which traditional aspects are you sticking with? Do you think there’s occasionally too much pressure on brides to be the best or to be different?
(Photo Credit: 2.bp.blogspot.com)
Great post! I definitely think there's too much pressure on couples to make their wedding "unique". Every one is so worried about avoiding the cookie-cutter wedding that I think couples might feel pressured to ignore their desire for more traditional aspects for fear that their wedding won't be different enough. We haven't really had this problem because most of the traditional wedding ideas don't appeal to us, but I can see how difficult it would be for a bride and groom who like traditional to stick with it.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! I think people try so hard to make their weddings creative/over the top that they start to lose the point of the day. I don't view my wedding as a show or performance. It's a wedding with a hopefully kickass party afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI agree that brides shouldn't be "unique" for the sake of trying to be unique. I definitely gravitate toward the more, rustic, vintage look which is very popular right now, but we're also incorporating a lot of traditional elements, like the groomsmen in tuxedos and my long, white dress.
ReplyDeleteThere can definitely be a lot of pressure to be unique. But if you let your personality shine and have fun, that's all that matters!
ReplyDeleteI'd say our salsa dancing lesson and non-uniform tables were pretty atypical!
I agree that there can be a lot of pressure in the wedding world but I also feel that people sometimes just aren't realistic about what they can and can't have, taking into account their situation. Sure there's a bunch of things that I see and like and are way too expensive, but just because I can't afford to have them, doesn't make my wedding any less beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI've never cared about being unique and gleefully copy everything I love. After all, what's unique about GETTING MARRIED?
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