Traditional vs. Non-traditional.

Every time I go to describe any part of the wedding we’re planning, the one word that keeps coming up is different. I really want our wedding to be different from other weddings our guests have been to. I want our dear friends and family to always look back on our wedding not just as a great time they had, but also as one that was really special and was a true representation of our personalities and tastes.

For example, I wanted our venue to be some place different, not your typical hotel or reception hall.

I wanted our photography to be different: artsy and edgy.

I wanted the food to be flavorful and interesting. No chicken and roasted potatoes here, no sir.

I wanted our flowers to incorporate bits of twigs and feathers and craspedia.

(You’d think I’ve been to a million weddings in my day but I haven’t. In fact, I haven’t been to a single wedding since I was too young to remember! Which has made planning tough at times but that’s another story.)

Because I’m trying to make our wedding extra unique and special, I think it would be pretty easy to label me as a “non-traditional” bride. And in a lot of ways, I am. I’m not wearing a long veil, I’m wearing a birdcage veil with a splay of feathers. My wedding shoes are a dusty gray in line with our wedding scheme. I’m planning on walking down the aisle to a contemporary folks song (you’ll have to wait until after the wedding to hear that update!). I don’t think we’ll be doing a flower or garter toss either.

We aren’t even doing favors (gasp!).

But I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as traditional and non-traditional. So much of our wedding is “traditional”: we have a decent sized wedding party (5 gals and 5 guys, plus the two of us),  A will be wearing a tux, I’ll be wearing a long white dress (well, ivory), there will be cake and a band and toasts and first dances and all those wonderful elements that make up your basic, “traditional” wedding. I’m even planning on changing my name, which is pretty much as traditional as it gets.

So where does that leave me?

I think it leaves me label-less, and that’s just fine with me. Some of my wedding is traditional, some is non-traditional, but all of it is me. Err… us. (heh)

What about you? Are you a traditional bride, a non-traditional bride, both or neither?

And are you struggling with labels? Embracing them or denying them?