Tradition or break the mold: How to Choose?

Matching bridesmaid dresses came out of the tradition of bridesmaids wearing the same dress as the bride to distract and trick evil spirits? Similarly a veil was also a tradition used to ward off evil spirits. A father walking her daughter down the aisle was a sign of transferring control, leadership and ownership from father to the new husband.

Paper invitations were started with England aristocracy, they would hire monks to write them and only the elite knew how to read. Before that they had the town crier shout it out. Wedding cakes come from also a wish of fertility, first it was a loaf of bread broken over the bride that later moved to kissing over spiced cakes and cookies which then got made into a tiered cake!

The tradition of an exit started with tossing rice. Rice was a simple form of fertility. It was to represent the idea of showering the couple with good hopes for children and prosperity. This shifted from rice and all the birds are very grateful!

Why do I bring all this up? Why does it matter? Often when you are wedding planning you can feel all this pressure to do things... even things you don't want to do: but you don't need to accept or own this pressure. A tradition was made to be changed, broken, shifted or ignored.