Last weekend I was photographing a wedding and when the bride put her veil on, she decided that she didn’t really like it. She promptly asked me if she had to wear it and if I had ever photographed a wedding where the bride didn’t wear a veil.  I told her, of course I have photographed brides not wearing veils and it was not a wedding requirement anymore.  This was her wedding and she could do whatever she wanted….we did one portrait of her in the veil, in case she wanted it later, and she ditched it.

This got me to thinking about old wedding traditions and which ones are acceptable to break?  While there are certain old traditions of the wedding scene that we should still probably follow, I decided to go snooping around all of my favorite wedding sites to see what traditions were happily being broken.

What I found was that brides are no longer walking up the aisle to “here comes the bride” and they are instead choosing modern love songs.  My last bride walked up the aisle to “From this Moment On” by Shania Twain.

Another tradition being happily broken is the amount of children in a wedding.  It used to be that you had one or two flower girls and a ring berrar, but this is no longer.  I have seen a wedding have upwards of ten children in it….boys were blowing bubbles and girls were dropping flowers and dancing up the aisle.  I even have a friend who is referring to all the children in her upcoming wedding as “flower children”.

And finally, my favorite tradition being broken by brides and grooms today is when the bride and groom see each other.  More and more couples are seeing each other before the ceremony and I love it! Meeting before the ceremony not only eases nerves but it gives the couple a special moment that they would not otherwise have.  The build up is intense and makes the alone time that much more special.  Not only do couples get photos of their first reactions to each other but they don’t have to share it with anyone else.

I know there are some brides out there thinking about that magical movie moment when the back doors to the church open, everyone stands up, and there he is, at the alter, crying.  Trust me, I thought about that too, but guess what?!?!…you still get that moment!!  The first time I photographed a first look before the wedding, the groom still cried when the back doors to the church opened.  It wasn’t about seeing her for the first time, it was about seeing her in that moment.  That couple got both moments and it was amazing.

So, brides to be, remember that it is okay to break some traditions and if you are not sure what to break, I suggest doing some super sleuthing of your own!  Check out your favorite sites or ask any of the wedding professionals that are helping you with your wedding!  And don’t forget, it’s your day, enjoy it!! 🙂

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