Weddings

A few weeks ago, I attended my first British wedding. Confession: I love weddings, but don't love a lot of the traditions associated with them. My favorite weddings tend to be the ones that feel unique to the couple getting married. Sometimes this means not all of the standard traditions are included. How do you feel about wedding traditions?

I find it interesting to see how they vary between and cultures. I was a bit nervous about what to even wear, but ended up getting the below dress on sale at Anthropologie and paired it with bright pink ballet flats and a pink pashmina:

Here were the top 5 differences I noticed between British and American weddings:

1. Fascinators: the name of the decorative hats worn by women to British weddings
2. The bride preceded the bridesmaids and flower girl down the aisle
3. Speeches: the only people who spoke were the father of the bride, the best man, and the groom. Apparently, the women plan the wedding, so aren't expected to do anything on the actual day.
4. There was no father / daughter dance
5. There was no bouquet toss or removal of the garter belt (I asked my table mates about this, and they were very confused by the concept of either)

I think my favorite part of the event was that the couple had a cheesecake for a wedding cake. And by "cheesecake", I mean layers of fresh cheese surrounded by grapes!

This was the lovely venue they had the reception in. Even at night, the conservatory glowed:

Image source: Anthropologie and J.Crew