Thursday, June 19, 2008

What is a de-constructed wedding?

I thought it would be appropriate to start off this blog with a post about what it means to plan a de-constructed wedding. My wedding was just 3 short weeks ago, and as I reflect on the events of the day and as I gaze at the photos that are coming in, the things I am happiest about are the little details that were unique and non-traditional. We decided early on in the process not to accept anything simply because it was a wedding tradition. Instead we took each piece of our wedding, examined our motivations for wanting to include it, and then decided if it fit "us". Only those things that were meaningful and true to us remained.

We looked at some of the traditional wedding activities such as the giving away of the bride and decided that it didn't quite fit us and our life situation, so we changed it up. Instead of walking down the "aisle" (which wasn't really an aisle, but more on that in another post) with my Dad, I instead walked to the end of the aisle with both of my parents, they gave me a hug and a wish of support, they walked down the aisle together, and then my fiance (now my husband - still haven't gotten used to saying "husband"!) and I walked down the aisle hand-in-hand. He similarly walked up with his parents and then waited there for me. There was a lot of symbolism in that for us. We were walking in the footsteps of our parents who are still happily married, and embarking on this new journey together.

There are other traditions that we embraced, and we're glad we incorporated them into the day. I guess what a de-constructed wedding means to me as that you are free to take apart the components of a traditional wedding and toss aside some traditions while happily celebrating others. You don't have to fit into a cookie-cutter idea of what a wedding or a bride should be.

I'll leave you with a photo that I think sums up the joy we felt as we prepared to walk down our pathway together. You'll notice that I'm not wearing an all-white wedding gown, and I'll blog about my dress for you another time. There is so much happiness in that moment.
Till Next Time,
-Jen


No comments: