who says you have to do that? (aka, 15 ways our wedding was ‘uniquely us’)

It’s been nearly two months since I said “I do” to my favorite human (woohoo!). And, not only did we get married in one of the most gorgeous locations, but we got married in exactly the way we wanted.

In preparation for our wedding, I read a number of books and blogs about bucking tradition and “offbeat brides” and such in an attempt to learn more about what other couples did to make their days truly their own. What I ultimately found is the message was the same: you do you.

So, we did us.

If you’re a regular reader (or have stumbled on my blog before), you may remember this post from a few months ago when we were in the planning stages: we’re not doing that + wedding traditions and their origins — in haiku. Not that there is anything wrong with doing things the traditional way if that’s really what you want to do. But it just wasn’t what we wanted. And I’m happy to say we stuck to our guns and didn’t end up doing any of those things.

Here are the fifteen things we did do to ensure our day was exactly what we wanted and the perfect way to start our married life together:

1. Morning ceremony + brunch reception
2. Opted for games instead of dancing and toasts
3. Walked up the aisle together as a couple
4. No wedding party
5. No defined colors (although we did have a loose palette for flowers, etc.)
6. Focused on simple, unique and intentional details
7. No cake (macarons!)
8. Splurged only on what was important (versus EVERYTHING)
9. Reduced waste (no straws, minimal paper)
10. Wrote our ceremony + vows
11. My best friend performed the ceremony
12. Chemical reaction in lieu of traditional unity activity
13. Incorporated items and little touches that were important and reflected us — typewriters, microscope, books and beakers for centerpieces, elements and typewriter letters on macarons
14. No seating chart — we designed coasters for guests to use as placeholders (they wrote their names on them)
15. Casual environment for reception to encourage guests to mingle and stay only as long as they wanted

All photos by J La Plante. View more of the gorgeous photos they captured from our wedding