What is a wedding?

www.dictionary.com

... A joining of lives, the making of a partnership... and yet nowadays planning a wedding is more like planning a performance- less about the couple, and more about showing off.

It feels like in the UK you can only go one of two ways with your wedding day: a) avoid all hassle - elope and marry abroad or b) make a huge show – the whole shebang and get hugely in debt. 

Whatever happened to the happy medium?

Following the success of my own ‘compact’ wedding, I am even more of a fan now of the small intimate wedding – a time when you get to celebrate your marriage with the people who mean most to you and are involved in your lives as a couple – not those you have met once / are a distant relative of – after all, how have they really affected your life as a couple and do they actually care that you are getting married?!

For our wedding, we decided to split the proceedings over two days, as this suited our views on marriage, and also protected our pockets! (Having the legal register signing separate to the reception saved us over £300 in legal fees alone!)

As a couple, we have always been of the opinion that a wedding is about the people, not the paperwork, and our two day event was a real reflection of this- we had the legal signing at the registry office on Saturday, with just the two required witnesses present, and a small party to celebrate the marriage, with family and friends the next day- This date is the one we consider to be our WEDDING day.

Our Sunday celebrations were planned to the same format as a standard wedding so no-one felt as if they had missed out on the previous day’s events (as we appreciate that people view the register signing differently to us!): we got ready separately, my dad walked me in, and we had a short blessing ceremony- performed by my hubber’s mum (who rather handily is a minister!) It was short, super sweet and personal. 
 

“You’ve all been handpicked, as being their nearest & dearest; those who matter most to them. You’re not just here to fill seats, but to share this moment with them today, & promise your support for them in the future”

Part of our blessing ceremony involved our 26 family and friends present responding to the question “Will you do all in your power to support & encourage Natalie & Andrew in their marriage?” with “We will”. While this may seem a little cheese-worthy to some, for us as a couple, it was heart-warming knowing that our nearest and dearest were there, knew we belonged as a couple, and supported our marriage.

Our guests were in no way coerced into coming to our wedding- in fact, quite the opposite! To some, wedding attendance is a chore- an expected day of awkward conversation with strangers and never speaking to the bride and groom, but our guests were never there just for bums on seats, and being such involved and important figures in our lives, they loved it. Loved being invited, loved being there and being with us. And we love them for it too.


A proper wedding.

Love,