Unique Ways Couples Put Their Personalities Into Their Weddings

Weddings in general are very traditional events! Stemming all the way back from 2350 BC, marriage ceremonies weren’t always the most romantic events. Nowadays, of course, we have different motivations for getting married, but the event itself is still rooted in tradition. So how can you as the modern 21st-century couple make your wedding feel more like you? Here are some ways my couples have done exactly that over the years I’ve been a wedding photographer.

Get Ready Together

This bride and groom chose to get ready together in their loft apartment. This made for some really intimate moments that you wouldn't get otherwise. There's no formal first look or any big moment like that, but the nerves are gone because you're getting ready with your favorite person. Also, you’ll see that she was wearing a blue wedding dress! She told me that she didn't feel like a “traditional” bride, so she didn’t really want to wear white, and she loved the color blue. Honestly, this isn’t as uncommon anymore! With more designers creating colored wedding dresses, couples are really able to express themselves as they want to.

Source Your Decor from Friends and Family

So back in 2018, I photographed my first destination wedding when I flew to Del Rio, Texas, to document Bonita and Tyler's wedding. The couple sourced all of their reception chairs from friends and family, so everything was mismatched but still really well coordinated, since all of the chairs happened to be in a coordinated color scheme. They hosted the reception in her parents’ backyard since they had so much space, and it was naturally beautiful, so it didn’t require much decorating beyond string lights and a few floral arrangements here and there.

Let your Furbabies be in the Wedding

This one is perfect for all the dog lovers out there. Taylor and Dustin decided to have their two dogs be their flower girls! The two of them ran down the aisle during the right part of the ceremony (they had been practicing) to deliver the rings to the couple. The rings were secured in little baggies on the dogs’ collars. So when the moment came, Taylor and Dustin called for their girls, and they bolted down the aisle to deliver the goods!

Honor Those Who Couldn’t Be There

This next one is a tearjerker. Mary lost her father a few years prior to her getting married. She still wanted to hold a father-daughter dance to honor his memory, so she danced with four of her father figures during the span of one song, while her siblings formed a half-circle around her and her dancing partner. This way, her dad was still there on the dance floor, dancing with her in every way possible. It was easily the sweetest, most thoughtful father-daughter dance I’ve ever witnessed.

Change Up Your Unity Ceremony

The same couple who got ready together had a really unique ceremony, where their 18 or so guests formed a circle surrounding them with the couple in the center. Each guest got a silk flower at the start of the ceremony, and during the unity ceremony, each guest came up and gave that silk flower to the couple and was able to hug them. So then, these two got to keep their bouquet forever because the flowers were made of silk. They were also able to incorporate all of their guests into their ceremony so it felt much more personal and intimate.

Okay so this next example was the coolest unity ceremony I've ever seen in my entire life. Only myself and the officiant (and obviously the couple) knew about this, but halfway during their ceremony, they decided to do unity whiskey shots! No one else knew this was coming – not even the wedding party or the guests! The two of them had an engraved bottle of whiskey with their wedding date on it, so they took shots of the whiskey together, which was very on-brand for the two of them!

So truly, the possibilities are endless when it comes to personalizing your wedding! This is just to inspire you and get you started on thinking about how you can bring your own personalities into your wedding day. I'm still waiting for someone to top the whiskey unity shot! Think that’ll be you? Get in touch!