Top Ten Creative Wedding Ideas & Traditions
Posted by oh amanda on June 22nd, 2009 . Filed under: me, top ten tuesday .
I used to work at a bridal shoe salon. That’s right I said SHOE salon. We had 100′s of styles of wedding shoes. Isn’t that fun? We also sold accessories like flower girl baskets, gloves and earrings. I guess I got bit by the wedding bug there because I ADORE wedding stuff. I could look through wedding sites and magazines for hours. I love traditional weddings. But what I really like is the twist on the old. I like weddings that showcase the couple and their unique-ness. So, here are a few of my
Top Ten Favorite Wedding Ideas and Traditions (or things that SHOULD be traditions)!
1. Bake Your Own Wedding Cake. This is the idea that inspired my Top Ten. You really need to read her whole post because you can hear the meaning behind it. But basically she baked her own wedding cake. Then, she and her husband served it to all of their guests. So, it doubled as the receiving line. Isn’t that great?
photo from faith durand
2. Serve Communion. Les and I had communion at our wedding. It was an act to show that we were honoring Jesus in our marriage. When a pastor friend of mine got married, instead of just he and his bride receiving communion, they served it to all the guests. They simply held the bread and the wine at the front of the church and everyone walked up to the front. It was moving and intimate!
photo by tanja lippert photography
3. Communion Chalice
At the aforementioned communion, the pastor encouraged the couple to take communion every year on their anniversary. This would be a time to renew their vows to each other and to God. But the fun twist is that the pastor gave the couple a beautiful goblet engraved with their names and wedding date. So, each year they can have communion with the same glass. This is my new gift for every family member that gets married. (Be forewarned, young-ish family members!)
4. Handkerchief
I always (always!) cry at weddings. When I worked at the shoe salon, we sold several lace handkerchiefs. One particular handkerchief came with directions to sew into a baby bonnet for the bride’s first child. As a mom, I can now imagine how sweet this would be! An heirloom to pass to my daughter—something from my wedding day and her newborn days…then she could use it on her wedding day. *sniff*
from kellen studios
5. Creative “Guestbooks”
There are too many great ideas…you know what? I think I’m going to do a Top Ten of this in a few weeks. But here’s my favorite right now…
photo from paperladyinvites flickr
6. Passing On…
I like anything you pass on to another bride. My grandmother gave me a bracelet (when I was quite young) that belonged to her. It had blue stones in it. (It may have been something she got at a garage sale. But as she was married to a millionaire for several years, I like to think it was worth something.) Anyway, I wore it in my wedding. I gave it to my cousin’s bride and I hope she passes it on to someone else in our family one day!
7. Mother’s Bouquet
I can’t remember where I heard this first but I LOVE IT. Instead of a boring wrist corsage, why not RECREATE the mothers’ wedding bouquets for them to carry down the aisle? Imagine their surprise when they are giving away their babies, to have a little glimpse back to their own wedding! How honored they would feel! (How can I suggest this when Lydia gets married without sounding self-serving?)
photo by twin lens llc. via stylemepretty.com
8. BLOG.
Obviously I am going to say this. But how cool would it be if you documented your entire wedding process? When you sent out your save-the-date cards, you could include the blog address and people could follow your journey! It would be like your own reality-tv show. Only on the web. And not so trashy.
9. Get a Good Photographer
Because these are my wedding pictures…
photo by nightmare photography
You can cry with me now. (See all epic failure pictures here.)
It’s hard for me to even look at wedding pictures now. Of course, if I could redo it, I’d spend every dime on the photographer. I scoured my new favorite wedding blog, Style Me Pretty and found so many beautiful pictures and photographers. I had to use them all in my post. Please click through and visit their sites. They’ll take your breath away!
10. Have Family Wear YOUR Colors.
My brother got married at Christmas-time. They had the family (those not in the wedding party) wear red and green. The family pictures turned out gorgeous! So even if your grandpa didn’t wear a tie (uhm, like mine!), then at least your wedding pictures will be color-coordinated.
photo by jonahtan canlas photography
OK. Are you lovin’ every bit of that?! Do you have any great traditions to add? What did you do at your wedding that was a little different or non-traditional? I wanna know!
:: :: ::
Now it’s your turn!
1. Write a Top Ten post on your blog.
2. Then copy the PERMALINK to your post in the Mr. Linky below.
3. Please link back to my Top Ten Tuesday post so others can join the fun.
4. Leave some comment love for the rest of the particpants!
Happy Tuesday!
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June 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 am
‘Tis been a long time since my wedding, and everything I remember is fuzzy (not from alcohol but from getting married EIGHT DAYS after I graduated from college). *sigh* Now, sixteen years later, we both wish we had eloped!
I particularly like #2 and #3.
As for #6, I bet there are some really creative guest books out now thanks to the popularity of scrapbooking.
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Twitter: clisty
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:55 am
AMANDA!! What the heck happened? You’re right, I AM crying with you now.
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Twitter: notdiyheather
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:21 am
Hubby and I served communion to our wedding guests – it was beautiful and a way to testify to Christ at the center of our marriage. I love the idea of the communion goblet as a wedding gift!
Love the handkerchief idea too. And the coordinating colors for the family. We got married at Christmas as well, and that would have made for great family photos.
And yes, I agree about the photographer. We had several friends taking pictures, so we have a lot. But there are some poses that are missing and that a professional would have made sure we got. but we were on a very, very tight budget. I don’t know that I would change that, but in hindsight, I would have be more directive to those who were taking pics.
I have a fun post linked up today!
Heather @ Not a DIY Life´s last blog ..Top Ten Ways to Eat Cucumbers
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June 23rd, 2009 at 7:29 am
Under “handkerchief” and “passing it on” – I have a handkerchief from my grandma that she made when she was younger – it has blue flowers embroidered on it – I used it in my wedding, and while I didn’t make anything out of it, I will be passing it on (my family’s not quite as big as yours, so I’ll need to wait until my kids get married!).
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June 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 am
Those photos are beautiful!! I wish I could do my wedding over again now that I have a better idea what I want. =]
I finally did a Top 10! Have a great day!
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June 23rd, 2009 at 8:59 am
I love the hankerchief idea! My brother and I both have hand-made hankerchiefs that we wore as hats as babies. When I got married, my mom had mine embroderied with Hubby’s intials (in blue, for the something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue) and gave it to him at a couple’s shower.
I agree about spending more money on the photographer. We did, but I absolutly LOVE all of our photos! There’s not a photo I wish he’d taken.
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June 23rd, 2009 at 9:23 am
Love your list. All great ideas!
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June 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 am
LOVE the bride & groom serving cake & doubles as the receiving line … perfect idea!!
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June 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 pm
What a fun list.
Storm´s last blog ..Happy Leon Day!
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June 23rd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Great list Amanda.
Our wedding party was not determined by gender but by who was close to us, I had a bridesman and my hubby had a woman of honour
We had a time of worship with singing, it was so special to share in that with our guests and as soon to be husband and wife.
I wore my mom’s wedding set on my right hand.
Made lots of stuff on my own, decorations, bouquets, veil, favours etc, I liked taking such an active role in our wedding day and having things very personalized and meaningful for us.
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June 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Love your list!
My niece gave a cd to each guest with her and her groom’s favorite songs. I still listen to it!
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June 23rd, 2009 at 5:01 pm
[...] And for more Top Ten Tuesday lists or to link up to your own, visit ohAmanda.com. [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
We did a time capsule at our wedding, and all the guests filled out questionaires about where we would be in 10 years (how many kids we’d have, the cars we’d drive, careers, etc.). The responses were hysterical, sweet, and everything in between. We opened it up on our 5 year anniversary to check our progress
, and will break it open again next year at 10.
I still get a pit in my stomach when I look at your wedding photos. Urg! :-p
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Twitter: vanderbiltwife
June 24th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
We had a funky guestbook with scrapbook pages, where the guests could fill out wishes and predictions for our life together. It’s so sweet to have!
We also didn’t have a ring bearer and flower girl, didn’t have a best man, had family sing/read poems, and had our reception at a science museum. We loved every minute!
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June 24th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Guest books are fun, however we are seeing an increasing shift towards items that will not live the rest of their lives in a draw or box in the attic.
Caricature wedding sign-in boards have proven immensely popular since we introduced them.
As a unique piece of art in themselves, by having a wide Mat this allows gusts to sing and provide their wishes for the happy couple. This framed item can then become a feature of the couple’s home as a wonderful memento of their special day, but also as a reminder of their wishes from their friends and family.
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Twitter: willblogforshoe
July 7th, 2009 at 10:36 am
HH & I took communion at our wedding. Serving it to our guests would have been awesome. One of my high school friends and his bride washed each other’s feet at their wedding. I wish I had been able to attend, because I think that would have been very cool to see.
Seeing your wedding pics make me want to cry every single time.
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October 26th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Thanks so much for including my photobooth book! It was so much fun from the wedding, and so much better than having all my friends and families signature!
-chelsey
Chelsey´s last blog ..handmade gift guide . for the whimsical girl
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November 24th, 2009 at 12:14 am
[...] 10. In highschool & college, I dyed shoes for a living … just ask ohAmanda! [...]
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 am
this article is exactly what i have been looking for! found your page bookmarked by a friend of mine. I’ll also share it. Thanks again!
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