I received an email from Denver’s own Little White Dress bridal salon the other day and in it they explained some common Irish wedding traditions. Being a sucker for any tradition that pulls from the bride or groom’s heritage and, in honor of St. Pat’s today, I thought I’d share. Thanks Little White Dress!

• An old Irish tradition calls for the couple to walk to the church together before exchanging their wedding vows.  
• An Irish bride’s wedding ring is called a Claddagh ring. It’s a heart held by two hands with the heart topped by a crown, where the hands represent faith, the crown symbolizes honor, and the heart signifies love. The ring’s motto is: “Let love and friendship reign.”
• The Lucky Horseshoe: Irish brides used to carry a real horseshoe for good luck. 
• The Magic Hanky: This charming custom requires a bride to carry a special hanky that, with a few stitches, is turned into a christening bonnet for the first baby. With a few more snips, it can be turned back into a hanky that the child carries on his/her wedding day. 
• Irish Dancers. Need we say more? Dressed in full costume, they add a wonderful touch of of pageantry and color. 
• The chime of bells is thought to keep evil spirits away and remind a couple of their vows. Giving a bell as a gift has become an Irish tradition, and can be used at the reception in lieu of clinking glasses.  
• The use of this old Irish proverb: Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.  

photo from Becky Young Photography of Michelle and Eric’s wedding rings

I was often asked if I was planning my own wedding. I did and as you can imagine, loved the process. But, practicing as I preach, Chelsey came in to coordinate the day. She was, as always, incredible! I know I’m biased, but I can’t tell you how nice it was to sit back and just enjoy the day and not worry if everything was in order and flowing correctly. Again, I’m biased, but hire a Wedding Planner!

Now, for the day’s details…

Flowers

As I mentioned on Monday, I was really excited about our wedding flowers. I have always found myself drawn to the fillers and “stuff” more than any particular flower. In talking with Cori Cook, a dear friend and our Floral Designer, I found myself saying that I just knew I wanted lots of stuff over and over again.

And stuff she delivered! Our bouquets were a mix of cabbage/garden roses, tuberose, heather and lots of interesting, textural stuff tied with simple velvet ribbons. If I’m honest, I didn’t want to put mine down I loved it so much!

As you saw yesterday, the centerpieces followed suit with a mix of flowers and textural fillers. The pew decorations were clusters of heather and green wheat embraced by burlap and trails of printed cotton fabrics and at the end of the aisle two large barrels were topped with silver vases filled with a mix of flowers.

Each flower girl carried a wreath of significant flowers or herbs down the aisle. There was rosemary for remembrance, wheat for friendliness, heather for wishes to come true and stock for a happy life. For the littlest of the bunch, it proved to be a great toy during the ceremony!

Dessert

Sal and I decided to indulge our guests in a few of our favorite and a few traditional desserts. I love French Macarons and Paula at Teacup Shop created some fabulous fall-flavored treats. They were salted carmel, tiramisu (in reference to Sal’s Italian heritage), and chocolate mole. Additionally, she baked a number of pear and apple tarts and a mix of fall-flavored cakes. My mother baked a traditional Norwegian cake called a kransakake as homage to my Norwegian heritage. Sal’s mother created bundles of Jordan almonds Italians call “confetti” and give out at celebrations.

Little things

Our ring bearer bowl was actually an antique drinking bowl from my grandfather’s family in Norway. One of our ring bearers carried and the other, his sippy cup—ah, the agenda of a two year-old! He stole our hearts!

Our guest book was a wooden bench that will sit on our porch for years to come.

Hay bales, luminaries and the bridesmaids’ bouquets decorated the building’s stage.

I wore a charm bracelet of photos of our grandparents and loved ones who had either passed or weren’t able to join us for the day. It was our way to bring them close in spirit.

My mother made several strings of pennant flags to indicate the path for our guests.

It was a day of details, all of which were in some way important to the two of us, even the sippy cup!

photography: Tyler Jones Photography

cinematography: Rising Moon Video Productions

flowers: Cori Cook Floral Design

location: Planet Bluegrass, Lyons, CO

catering: Greens Point Catering

cake and desserts: Teacup Shop

makeup: makeup by janine

hair: Girls and Curls

bride’s dress: Jenny Yoo from Anna Be Bridal Boutique

wedding design and planning: Talia Events

These caught my eye the other day while perusing Etsy. Wouldn’t they be the perfect touch to a winter wedding in Colorado?

As an added bonus, they’re made by HeyMiemie who is based in Denver. Like I said, one may just be the perfect piece for your Colorado wedding.

all from HeyMiemie

Once you’ve chosen your date, your wedding party, your location, your dress, your colors, your flowers, your menu, your officiant, it’s likely that you’ll be asked if you’re changing your name. For some new brides it’s a deeply personal decision that takes a good deal of deliberation. For others, it’s a no brainer–they’ve known for some time that they’ll either take on their now husbands’ last name, hyphenate their own, or for some that they’ll both hyphenate and both take on a new last name.

If you’ve chosen to change your last name and take your husband’s, Miss Now Mrs. is an on-line service that makes the process easy. You pay about $30 and spend a bit of time to officially change your name on all legal documents. Take a look, it might be the perfect one-stop-shop for changing your name!

I’ve shared several times how much I enjoy seeing couples incorporate cultural traditions in their weddings. Doing so, makes things more meaningful and personal.

I also enjoy reading about how weddings have evolved, where some of the traditions we observe today came from and how marriage and weddings differ in other areas around the world. A few traditions and bits of wedding culture from around the world I’ve come across in old issues of Martha Stewart Weddings were shared in this post. 

Today, I wanted to share a few little bits of information I found related to rings.

Wearing the wedding ring on the third finger on the left hand is a metaphor for  togetherness. The third finger cannnot be fully extended alone, it needs an adjacent finger to do so.

A wedding band for the groom first became popular during World War II as a reminder of the soldier’s life back home.

The word gem is derived from the Latin word for “bud.” It was believed that precious stones were believed to grow and ripen like fruit.

At one time, wealthy English brides wore their wedding rings on their thumbs. It may have been that this was because they were too ornate to fit comfortably on the ring finger. 

My mother shipped me a large box of old Martha Stewart Weddings that I collected years ago, before I was planning weddings, but while I was working as a floral designer. It’s been fun to look through them and re-read the little quips on wedding traditions. Some are sweet and others are ideas for how to infuse your day with cultural traditions.

Did you know that in ancient Rome, the ceremonial kiss wasn’t romantic, but legal?

It actually marked the mutual acceptance of the contract of marriage. Guess it’s a fun way to sign on the dotted line!

If you’re considering ways to include your heritage in your wedding reception and are thinking of inviting your guests to join you for a cultural dance, Martha Stewart Weddings has some thoughts and tips on how to do so. See the article here.

click image to enlarge
dancin’ shoes if I’ve ever seen ‘em, Julie Harris Photography

I’m working on creating some notecards of bullet points to remind me of what to say at a presentation I’m giving tomorrow to a group of aspiring event planners and am reminded of a bit of advice I give couples as they put the finishing touches on their weddings.

I just stumbled across these darling flower girl wands from Maihar Design and had to share. Aren’t they a cute change from the traditional flower girl basket? I can’t imagine a little girl who wouldn’t welcome the chance to carry one of these.