With spring wedding season just around the corner, I got to thinking about the many ways couples - myself included - integrate their own traditions and narratives into these special events. Today, weddings can be so much more than just a walk down the aisle to exchange pre-written vows and we love seeing how couples adapt some of the more traditional elements of the wedding ceremony to make the day truly "theirs." I recently chatted with wedding photographer Erin Tetterton and with Stylebook editor Leigh Ramadan on some of the fun ways couples choose to update the traditional wedding ceremony - including special takes from Leigh's and my own weddings... 

1. Make it a modified "White Wedding"

Erin: My client Tawny wanted to add some Chinese touches to her and Rick’s wedding ceremony at their Lincoln Cottage wedding in D.C. as a nod to her Chinese heritage. She chose an Alfred Sung wedding dress, which was trimmed in red, the traditional Chinese wedding color and provided guests with Chinese parasols to shade them from the sun during their outdoor ceremony. When photographing their wedding details, I also added a vintage stamp to match the theme. 

The bride's Alfred Sung white and red dress; detail shot showing the bride's red wedding shoes, the groom's military medals, and Erin's vintage stamp. Photographs by Erin Tetterton Photography

2. Consider a personal officiant

Meaghan: When Tim and I got married, we actually had two weddings. We officially, legally married in January of 2014 in the law office of a local lawyer/wedding officiant in the presence of close family only. We did this in order to ensure that a particularly important family member could attend, but the other benefit was that when we had our big, "actual" wedding that May we could have anyone officiate the ceremony since we didn't need to do anything legally binding. We opted for my dad and he gave a wonderfully funny, personal speech at the beginning of the ceremony that left no dry eyes in attendance. I had people comment to me for weeks afterwards how much they enjoyed him! 

Tim & Meaghan's May 2014 wedding with Meaghan's dad officiating

3. Don't be hemmed in by the traditional sit-down dinner

Leigh: Instead of a traditional sit-down dinner for our reception, Lido and I opted for a lounge type atmosphere with food stations around the ballroom. We were able to incorporate Lido's Egyptian heritage and my Texas roots throughout the space with the decor and with the food. We had a screen that was used as the backdrop for the ceremony and the band and we used lanterns to light the reception that gave a nod to Egypt. We also used the food as a fun place to express ourselves with one area set up as a mezze station with hummus, baba ghanoush, marinated feta and olives, pita, and lavosh. On the other side of the room, we had a taco station with all the fixings! 

From left: The screen at the ceremony; reception "map" to show people where they could find all the yummy dishes; food stations at the reception. Photographs by Eli Turner Studios.

4. Involve the whole family

Erin: My clients Michelle and Jackson's families are Indian and Nordic, respectively. The two chose a ceremony at a barn in southern Maryland, but Michelle knew she also wanted to include parts of her Indian heritage. The evening before the wedding, Michelle had a mehendi artist come out to do mehendi for her, her wedding party, and close family. She also invited her cousin to perform a traditional Indian belly dance during the reception. 

The bride getting dressed with help from family, all with mehendi; Michelle and Jackson together; Michelle's cousin dancing at the reception. Photographs by Erin Tetterton Photography.

5. On that note: have fun with the reception

Meaghan: Our wedding reception was incredibly fun and very unstructured but there were two elements that, unbeknownst to me, "had" to make it into the events. One was that two of Tim's closest friends (who happen to be Jewish) desperately wanted us to do the Hava Nagila - they have coordinated this for each of their college friends' weddings, Jewish or not, and it's a big deal. They had to convince our wedding planner to allow them to play the song since it wasn't on our list and I am so glad she relented.She ended up having two edits to the song list that night: my brother at the end of the evening coordinated a huge, all-attendee rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and it was easily one of the best moments of the night. I love the photos taken during the... performance, shall we call it? Both ridiculous and heartwarming, and I particularly love seeing how so many of our guests who were complete strangers at the beginning of the evening were locking arms, belting out Simon & Garfunkle by the end. 

Top; Tim & Meaghan during the Hava Nagila. Bottom; Tim & Meaghan's uncles and dad "singing" Bridge Over Troubled Water; Tim's best friend, Meaghan's aunt, and Tim's uncle singing along.

 How did you mix things up for your wedding? Share your story in the comments below!