Skipping...

There has been a decent amount of wedding tradition talk in the past month - from ceremony locations to walking down the aisle to handfasting to the (ever debated) dollar dance.

A few things were still being debated, but with our band's deadline for information (on songs, speeches, etc) quickly approaching, we needed to make decisions...and moving this post from draft to published was a great impetus to finish things up!

Although a lot of our wedding is traditional (white dress, first dance, etc.), we chose to skip some things. Some were just personal preference, but other decisions came from the fact that Mr. Turkey and I have attended a lot of weddings together and were simply burnt out!

So, without further ado, here are some of the traditions the Turkeys have chosen to skip.

Ceremony Traditions - unity candle, flowers to the blessed Mary

These traditions were forgone more due to timing than anything else. 

As mentioned, we are having a Catholic wedding ceremony versus a mass. This means only about 30 minutes total, so we decided to keep with just readings and vows. Should we have had a mass, I'm sure we would have incorporated at least 1 of these traditions - they're lovely!

First Look at the Altar

Mr. Turkey's first look at me in my dress will not be when I come down the aisle, but several hours beforehand. Due to the late start of our wedding (6:30pm), it was most logical for us to to do photos before the ceremony. Yup, we'll have spent a significant amount of time together on our wedding day before we say "I do". 

Although it might not be traditional, we're excited to be able to get the nerves out and, most of all, enjoy all the mini foods at our cocktail hour! And some fabulous pictures like this:

Miss Hamster's first look via Weddingbee - a.maz.ing.

Bouquet / Garter Toss
This was a quick "no" in our book.

In the course of one spring / summer, we both grew to seriously loathe Beyonce's "Single Ladies" because of all the bouquet tosses. Mr. Turkey and I weren't engaged, so we unfortunately had to partake in this tradition more times than I care to count. However, this number was less than it should have been - we were really good at hiding / finding our way to the bathroom when we heard the tell-tale beat.

This bouquet hit me in the face because I refused to catch it (such a rebel)

Oh, and then there was the one wedding where I was scratched / tackled by another single lady as she went for the bouquet (and I tried to avoid it). That was pretty much the clincher.

Besides our bias / past experiences, our wedding guest "makeup" doesn't really fit with this tradition. There are very few single ladies (unless you bring in my college-aged cousins) and of those, I know at least 3/4ths would attempt a Turkey-esque escape.

Choreographed Dances
There were mixed feelings on this...after all, the Turkey family likes to dance (and so do their friends)!

Doing the Macarena at a friend's birthday party (Brother Turkey in blue shirt, Turkey Mom in black dress)

Brother Turkey was teaching kids to Dougie at a bar mitzvah (I paid him $20 to join the dancers up front)

However, choreographed dances can be cheesy and keep some people off the dance floor. We didn't want to chance people sitting down, as we want them boogying all.night.long.

But we had to make one exception...the Cupid Shuffle.

You see, right after we got engaged, there were a series of events / signs pointing to the need to play this song. First, I attended the PIFA Party in Paris with a few girlfriends and when the Cupid Shuffle came on we somehow ended up being the ringleaders in the dancing. No idea how it happened, but it was absolutely hilarious.

Before we became the life of the party - me, B, MOH J, G

About a week later, B and I went to the movies and saw "Jumping the Broom" when the original movie we were scheduled to see was sold out. Well, the movie ends (spoiler alert) with everyone at the wedding doing the Cupid Shuffle.

Unfortunately couldn't find a photo of the dancing (Source)

If those 2 things weren't enough...at my cousin's bar mitzvah (the same one where Brother Turkey was teaching the Dougie), the Cupid Shuffle came on and Brother Turkey and I taught the rest of the family how to do the dance. Yup, we even got Turkey Dad up and moving!

So, with that, we've requested that the band play just 1 choreographed dance for us and hope that it doesn't clear the dance floor. If nothing else, I know there will be some funny photo ops. :)

What traditions did or didn't "make the cut" for your wedding day?