Wedding: To have or not to have

By Esther Muchene

When it comes to weddings, opinions are carelessly thrown around. From the mother-in-law, to the bridesmaids who think this or the other should suit you for whatever reason. This may, sometimes, put the bride and groom in a fix as they try to please everyone, but are these rules written on stone?

• A wedding church ceremony

Unless you’re Catholic or affiliated to other religious groups that strictly forbid exchange of vows outside their place of worship, you are not restricted from saying your vows outside a church. Be it a garden, museum or hall; hire an officiant to preside over the ceremony.

• Giving away of the bride

In most instances, brides are walked down by parents, or a male figure who’s special to the bride. In short, there is always someone escorting the bride down the aisle. If this isn’t your idea of how it should be, skip it all together and walk down solo or even walk down together with your groom arm in arm. For the pet lover, have the dog walk down with you.

• A wedding reception

There is no written rule that a wedding must have an afternoon reception. Depending on your budget and theme, you may decide to skip it all together and have a cocktail or brunch reception, a dessert buffet or a meaty buffet, followed by cake cutting.

• A photo session on the wedding day

The reason many weddings get excruciatingly boring and long is because couples choose to go for photo sessions on the other side of town. This is in addition to the crazy traffic on Nairobi roads. Have your photos scheduled a day or two before or after the wedding or alternatively, have the photos and reception at the same place to save travel time and keep it as short as possible.

• Wedding cake

You do not have to have one. Options are endless depending on your theme, budget and creativity.

• Wedding speeches

To be honest, no one likes this and it is the most dreaded part of the wedding day because it gets boring. Keep the speeches short. Alternatively, request the speech givers to have the messages videotaped on the side, which will be more exciting as it will be a surprise when you watch your wedding video for the first time.