There are all kinds and styles of wedding ceremonies and receptions today. You don’t have to stick to tradition unless you want to.  Brides today have options for their planning. You can go with seasonal, storybook, ethnic and even western frontier. Another popular type of wedding is the destination wedding.  This requires picking a location to have your ceremony and reception in a wildly fun place like Las Vegas, or a beautiful tropic ceremony in the Bahamas, or maybe even a western  wedding in the great state of Texas.  Where ever your heart desires.  You, your groom and a small group of friends travel to the location  to celebrate your union, and the best part is, if you wish, you can have your honeymoon there too.  A themed wedding is at the top of the list for couples getting married today. 

   You could have a very beautiful winter wonderland ceremony and reception, with all the beauty of a white Christmas. With snowmen decorations and snow globe favors, this can be one of the most gorgeous of seasons to marry.  A popular summer ceremony is the beach wedding.  Sun, surf and seafood with a great beach party reception. Or maybe you like the fall the best, with all the fabulous autumn colors, pumpkins, gourds and scattered leaves. Spring is the perfect time for a lovely garden ceremony and reception.  With all the flowers blooming and the fresh smell of a gorgeous spring day.  Whatever your choice of themes are, you can find just about any wedding supplies and accessories to go along with it.

   Our ancestors came from Ireland, so my husband and I had a good old fashioned Irish wedding. We had everything from the upside down horseshoe made of fabric and worn on the brides wrist to claddagh wedding rings. After the ceremony we all went to an Irish pub for the reception and danced to some wonderful Irish tunes. The wedding cake was like a scumptious fruit cake with layers piled high and frosted with a white Irish icing. But the top layer of the wedding cake is an Irish whiskey cake and is saved for the christening of your first born. You also save a slice for your anniversary. There is a lot of customs to an Irish wedding and reception.  It was a fantastic celebration. We rented the pub for the night and I had all the tables set up in Irish décor, even our champagne glasses had the print of the claddagh on them. I also had the perfect Irish themed wedding favors for every guest. That was quite a night.

   My sister went for a storybook wedding. She always had a thing for the Cinderella and Prince Charming fable, now she had her chance to live it, if only for one night. It was really beautiful. She had everything in a fairy tale, from decorations to a castle cake topper. She found some exquisite themed party favors too. I’m telling you, you can do just about anything you want when planning a wedding and reception.  It’s your special day, so why not have it the way you want it? This is your chance to live out your long time fantasy and have the dream wedding you talked about as a young girl.

   When you can find all the wedding accessories and reception supplies to have your perfect ceremony and reception party, why not go for it. This is a memory you’re making to last the rest of your lives.  Why not make it all it can be?

   My sister knows I’m not really much on tradition. I’m kinda the wild child in the family and I’ve always wanted everything to be different or sometimes even the opposite of everyone else.  I must admit, sometimes it drove my mom and dad a little crazy. They weren’t always sure how to take me. But thank goodness my sister did.  That’s why she knew there was no way I was going for a traditional old fashioned wedding and reception. I wanted something a little more my style. So she helped me find new wedding ideas.

   We looked in some bridal shoppes and checked out wedding books, but they all seemed to give the same message: “Tradition” So she suggested we go online and see what kinds of weddings and receptions other people have come up with.  There were lots of theme weddings and I kinda liked that idea, because that sorta leaves my options open.          

There are a lot of different themed wedding ideas to consider. There is the color scheme theme, which I’m not to crazy about, and seasonal themes, like winter wonderland décor, or a garden wedding ( no way ) and a super beach wedding and reception party, which I would consider.  But I really liked the destination wedding and reception idea. I was thinking Vegas would be a great place for a wedding, and right afterwards we could start our honeymoon there too.

   So I kept Vegas open as a good option. Then there was the storybook wedding, but, I’m not into all the frills and girly lacey things, and I outgrew fairy tales a long time ago. The western frontier one sounded pretty awesome.  We could have a huge barbecue on a ranch somewhere for my reception. There were even outfits for the bride and groom that depict a country western motif, with hats and cowboys boots and everything. They’ve even got new favors perfect for a western celebration.  That sounds really wild. That’s a suggestion I could live with. I kept picturing bales of hay stacked all around for the reception, with maybe barbecued ribs on the pit and maybe we could even have a rustic old wagon for a hayride. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

   There were also ethnic wedding ceremonies and receptions like a beautiful Asian wedding with lanterns and all the gorgeous accessories of the orient.  Those were really awesome too.

   There were some really nice accessories for an Irish ceremony and reception with all kinds of items in a beautiful Irish motif. There is just all kinds of choices, but I think I’ll go with the western frontier wedding. I really like that one a lot, and decoration should be pretty easy. The hardest part may be finding a location to have this celebration, but I’m sure there are places we can find that will be appropriate.  I’m really excited about this idea. All I have to do is convince my fiance, but I think he’ll be pretty cool about it.

   I had my sister help me start planning for my western wedding.  We’ve found so many awesome decorations and accessories online.  I also called a few places and have found the perfect location. I was so excited I called my fiance and work and told him all about it.  Surprisingly enough he actually liked the idea. So we are officially having a western wedding ceremony, and a barbecue and an old fashioned hoe down at our reception. So now I’m shopping for everything I need, from invitations to new party favors . I’m so glad my sister came up with all these cool suggestions.