Like many other engaged couples, my fiancé and I want our wedding to be unique. More specifically, we want it to be unique to us. Our hope for our wedding (aside from cooperative weather, of course) is that our relationship and love for each other shine through in a way that is so clearly us.
However, bringing that vision to life can be baffling at first. We found ourselves asking exactly how we could create a wedding all our own. It can be easy to fall into loving what’s popular now instead of staying true to your heart and designing a day around your blended styles. Trends are trends, well – because they’re popular. It’s tough to find what you truly love without getting swept up in what everyone else is doing.
Here’s how we’re ditching what we like to call the “traditional” wedding with a few simple changes.
The ceremony
Rather than hiring an officiant based on reviews and word of mouth, we’re opting for a more personal feel for our ceremony. We both thought we’d feel more comfortable with someone we know officiating, so we asked my little sister to officiate. Not only do we feel more comfortable, we also have the opportunity to include my sister in the ceremony in a special way.
Nixing the traditions
Neither my fiancé nor I have the desire to partake in the typical garter toss tradition, so we’re nixing that from the wedding day schedule, amongst a few other typical wedding day traditions.
No Maid of Honor or Best Man
You heard that right, we opted to not choose a Maid of Honor or Best Man. Quite frankly, we don’t want two of our friends (in particular) to feel stressed in any way about our big day. I’ve been a maid of honor once and it wasn’t the easiest walk in the park. We simply want our wedding party to have fun with the planning!
Incorporating our friends
We’re so lucky to know some folks who work in the wedding industry, which means that we get to hire some of our very talented friends! What that means for us is that we don’t have to worry one bit that the food won’t be up to par or that the photographer will miss important pieces of the day. We know and trust our friends’ talents and can’t wait to have them join in on the wedding festivities!
Hello, Atlanta
We’re planning an upside down destination wedding – if that makes any sense. Most of our friends and family are back home in Massachusetts, but we moved to Atlanta this summer. We’ve loved the city for years (Tim even lived here back in 2014!) and are using our wedding weekend as a grand opportunity to show everyone why we love it so much. In fact, we love the city so much that we had a full afternoon shoot with photographer, Kelley Raye, (featured here!) before Tim moved back to Boston in 2015 to capture moments in our favorite Atlanta spots. Long story short, while it’s not a destination wedding for us, it is for the majority of our guests. More on this later, all.
Adults Only
Another way we’re changing things up is by hosting an adults-only ceremony and reception – don’t worry, we’ll be setting up childcare options for our guests! We’ve also got a few more surprises up our sleeves, but don’t want to spoil it for our guests, so hopefully, you’ll stay tuned to see what we come up with!
Fellow brides-to-be, how are you putting your own spin on your big day?