Wedding Tradtions

I received a lot of questions about the Cake Pull I mentioned in Tuesday's post on my friend Lizy's wedding and thought I'd talk about it.

I LOVE traditions. There is such history and meaning to them that I feel like it unites me to something greater. When Dashing and I were married, we used the traditional Lutheran wedding vows, I wore the traditional white dress and he, a black tux. My father walked me down the aisle to give me away. We had a first dance, cut the cake, bouquet and garter toss.... you get the picture. (all wedding posts here)

We also followed the southern tradition of the "Stand-in Bride." Essentially, this is a tradition that the bride only walks down the aisle to her husband ONCE. Walking down the aisle to your husband at the rehearsal and then the ceremony would be twice, so instead, a close friend does the rehearsal for you while you watch. When we told our pastor we wanted to observe this tradition in Arizona, he was taken off guard and said he had never heard of this. He called his friend, a pastor in the south, to ask about this. To our pastor's surprise, he said "oh yes, we do that all the time." And so, we did it! Our close friend Jordan assumed my role at the rehearsal. I got to watch how the whole thing looks, and hear an abbreviation of our vows spoken by my best friend. It was actually hysterical. Dashing, Jordan, and I were all laughing. Jordan was blushing the whole time. PRICELESS! Sometimes Dashing refers to Jordan as his first wife. Makes for awesome memories and an unbreakable bond between the three of us.

Now for the cake pull - I didn't do a cake pull, but did participate in one for my dear friend Emily in her home state of Louisiana. A cake pull is a Victorian tradition that has settled in the South (they love their traditions in the south!). A variety of charms are tied to ribbons and put into the cake with the ribbon sticking out. Before the cutting of the cake, bridesmaids all take a ribbon and pull out a charm. Each charm has a meaning/fortune of sorts, like a dolphin for a life of joy and playfulness; a captain's wheel for confidence.  Lizy was having a more non-traditional wedding, so I thought this would be a fun twist to have during the day. I brought cupcakes to do the cake pull.

Some rig it for the Bride to receive the Eiffel Tower charm to wish her the best on her honeymoon and for a life of adventure and travel. It was so appropriate at Lizy's wedding as her husband proposed to her in Paris! When she pulled the charm, she loved it so much she tied it to her bouquet for the wedding. See, aren't traditions awesome! (Read about more wedding traditions here)

Sincerely,
Sara Cate