On Fathers...And Traditions

"I used to think a wedding was a simple affair. Boy and girl meet, they fall in love, he buys a ring, she buys a dress, they say I do. I was wrong. That's getting married. A wedding is an entirely different proposition...

You fathers will understand. You have a little girl. An adorable little girl who looks up to you and adores you in a way you could never have imagined. I remember how her little hand used to fit inside mine. Then comes the day when she wants to get her ears pierced, and wants you to drop her off a block before the movie theater. 

From that moment on you're in a constant panic. You worry about her meeting the wrong kind of guy, the kind of guy who only wants one thing, and you know exactly what that one thing is, because it's the same thing you wanted when you were their age. 

Then, you stop worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy. That's the greatest fear of all, because, then you lose her..." - (slightly edited) quote from Father of the Bride

Although the above quote comes from George Stanley Banks (played by Steve Martin), it could have been said by my father. You see, if you've seen Father of the Bride, you "know" Turkey Dad. He is (pretty much) that character.

Father of the Bride (source)

This has been one of my family's favorite movies since it came out in 1991 and it's only become more meaningful this past year. I even showed Mr. Turkey the movie before he met my father...you know, for training!

Mr. Turkey and me with Turkey Dad (note the tiny hat on his head)

Then, we got engaged and after hearing the introductory monologue again, we realized what we were in for with the wedding process. Not that Turkey Dad has gotten himself arrested for stealing hot dog buns, but there are a lot of actions and quotes from the movie character that sound (scarily) familiar. And he, like Mr. Banks, is very traditional.

Nails and a Nosh

It seems fairly common for brides to use the day before their wedding to relax and get pretty, specifically when it comes to mani / pedis with their bridal party. Well, I don't often buck tradition, so it seemed to be a good idea to look into salon / spa options for the group.

Since I have trouble doing things simply, I decided to make the Friday before the wedding an "event" for me, the bridesmaids and Turkey Mom.

Invitation by Sweet Wishes (specific design)

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.