Cultural Details

Ok- guilty as charged- I am a HUGE wedding photo stalker. Huge. If a friend on Facebook is tagged in a wedding album, I look. I try to get ideas, usually fun things I can incorporate, or sometimes things I know I don't want to do. I always, always, always though feel that little warm-hearted feeling when looking at how happy the bride and groom look.

One thing I most love is looking at the cultural details of the weddings I stalk. I wish I was more culturally centered. Mr Pug and I both have mixed-bag families. I know that my family is mostly Irish, and also some Italian, and I think German? Definitely Irish-European. And Mr Pug's family is part Irish, part Lebanese. But we aren't at all that culturally aware of the traditions we could incorporate into our wedding. The more blogs and photos I stalk, the more I am thinking about doing some research.

One example is Mrs Avacado from Weddingbee. I went a little crazy and read her Weddingbee blog from start to finish. I was transfixed by all the cultural differences that existed side-by-side with our many similarities. The Avacados had a wonderful modern LDS wedding. There are so many different things involved in planning an LDS wedding, but Mr 'Cado's Polish heritage (literally- his family lives there!) added another unique level of traditions.

Here are some pictures from one of my favorite parts of Mrs Avacado's wedding: the Polish tradition of throwing coins at the Bride and Groom. I love how mischevious the family was in this collection of photos- they did it with so much joy and love.

The coins were thrown after the ceremony in the temple. In their religion, the ceremony is a sealing ceremony and only guests who are endowed can attend. Because of this, the Avacados had a few "ceremonies" and "receptions" to celebrate with all guests, but the sealing ceremony was when they truly became husband and wife. Mrs 'Cado- please correct me on any of this if I'm not getting it right! And please everyone go read her blogs from her wedding planning- they are so interesting and insightful! I just love Mrs Avacado's wonderfully upbeat attitude... her blogs practically ooze happiness and contentment.

Also note that her beautiful gown is altered specifically to the more modest dress requirements. She tried on many gowns with shorter sleeves, but opted to have a dress altered to add more sleeve-age and make the v-neck less deep. I think it is contemporary, classic, and gorgeous... what a great job she did finding something so perfect for her!

The Avacado's interest in displaying and honoring their history and beliefs inspired me. What are you doing to honor your heritage? What new traditions do you want to start, if any? And do you think I'll be able to find any Irish-Italian-Lebanese traditions to call my own? :-D

Both pictures courtesy of Mrs Avacado's blog, taken by Jamie Smith.