Today, I wanted to share a few thoughts about English-Wedding Blog’s other call to action: namely to Be different’. Because when you think about it, that’s more radical than it might at first appear. Weddings are, after all, rooted deep in tradition. And whilst they have been subject to all manner of passing fads and fashions over the decades and have expanded in scale to a level that would have been unimaginable even 50 years ago, many of the basic elements remain recognizable. Our grandmothers may be agog at the thought of us celebrating our nuptials with a professional firework display or walking down the aisle in a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, but the reading of banns, the wearing of a white dress and the throwing of confetti would, of course, all be very familiar indeed.
I really like that sense of continuity. But engaging in a ritual that is steeped in tradition can mean that our choices as brides sometimes feel constrained by the heavy forces of convention. It can be hard to ‘be different’ when there’s pressure to follow a set formula and you’re being swept along on a wave of expectation. And take it from Mrs Moore-to-be, great distress can be caused when those expectations aren’t fulfilled. Nothing could have prepared Mr Moore and his B2B for the ‘sausagegate’ situation, which arose after he innocently mentioned that our choice of wedding breakfast was to be bangers and mash rather than something more traditional. We joke about it now, but I can assure you that it was most certainly no laughing matter at the time.
So it seems that 21st Century B2B need to adopt many roles simultaneously: not only Event Manager, Financial Controller and Creative Director but also Head of Diplomatic Relations. You know, there are moments when the allure of that Blacksmith’s shop at Gretna Green is very strong … but that said, ours will still be A Warwickshire Wedding!
