Wedding Traditions That Have Become Classics

Out with the old and in with the new.

That's how it sometimes seems when you're looking at wedding photographs.

Nowadays it seems that everybody wants their own wedding to be a bit 'different'. Themed maybe so that it's individual and personal to them.

Whilst I'm all for making your wedding day unique, it's interesting because there are usually a few common threads running through every wedding day - whether it's a traditional wedding day of lace and morning suits or an avant garde steam punk wedding day.

On the other hand, some wedding traditions have been forgotten.

Six Traditions Included In Most Wedding Days

• A special outfit for the bride and groom. Most couples, whatever their style of wedding, want to dress up a bit to tie the knot. That may well mean a new suit for the groom and a new frock for the bride - which doesn't mean formal wedding gear. Maybe the bridegroom wants to invest in a tailored lounge suit or black tie - and maybe the bride wants to splash out on a fabulous ballgown. It's all about looking and feeling your best after all and if you choose something that you can wear over again, that makes excellent financial sense and you don't have to wear a traditional white lace wedding dress if you don't want to. Think of the fabulous purple gown Dita Von Teese wore on her wedding day.
• A wedding cake. Again, it may not be a traditional tiered wedding cake. You might opt for cupcakes or a cake made of cheeses or even a plate piled high with doughnuts. But most couples want some sort of edible centrepiece and cutting a cake is the signal for the evening to begin (and etiquette dictates that guests should only leave after the cake is cut). It also makes for a great photograph!
• A bouquet for the bride and a buttonhole for the groom. Styles may change - back in the 1980's brides often had outsize trailing bouquet (like the Princess of Wales) and in recent years we've seen the emergence of button bouquets, heirloom bouquets made from vintage jewellery and posies. But whatever form your bouquet takes, most brides like to carry some flowers (to give something for nervous hands to hold maybe?) and grooms look more 'dressed' if they have a buttonhole. So don't see this tradition going out of style any day soon.
• A photo of the newly weds leaving the ceremony. There's just something about the smile on a pair of newly-weds faces that makes it a must-have image.
• Wedding rings. Again, most couples like to have some sort of visual symbol of their marriage. It might not be a plain gold or platinum band - in fact I liked these personalised rings I came across recently that take a mould of the bride and bridegroom's fingers.
• Music. There's something about music that just gives an atmosphere. Whether it's used for walking down the aisle and back, when the bride and groom enter the reception or for the first dance or a string quartet playing as the guests arrive for drinks.
• What do you think? What wedding traditions have stood the test of time? What do you think will still be happening at weddings when you're attending your grandchildren's weddings?