Weddingbee Blog

Considering all the things we’ve broken the rules on (no flowers, getting legally married before the wedding, having a Rice Krispies wedding cake, doing a “first look”) I’m surprised to find that we’re sticking to a lot of long-standing wedding traditions. First up: the Dollar Dance!

(source)

For those of you unfamiliar with the Dollar Dance (aka Money Dance, Honeymoon Dance, Shameless-Request-For-Cash-On-Our-Wedding-Day), it’s a popular tradition in the South, and has been at pretty much every wedding I’ve been to in this neck of the woods.

And let me tell you, people LOVE it here! We round up a whole bunch of cash, have the Best Man and Maid of Honor hold a couple of boots, and throw down a dancing battle royale as to who hustles up more cash. All the younger guests (and some family) get a big kick out of dancing with each other—especially groomsmen with the groom. Anyway, I was thinking that we really needed it to be a popular song, to get the most people to want to dance. So what’s the hottest, hippest, most popular song in Lake Jackson these days?

Wagon Wheel, by Old Crow Medicine Show. I was crazy excited about this with our old band, because lately they’ve revised it to more of a rock song, and they totally jam out to it. But alas, they threw us to the wayside, so we’ll have to go with the original. It’s folksy, it’s twangy, but mostly, everybody has been obsessed with it since high school. So I know they’ll want to get out there and dance!

Also on the agenda are the classic bouquet and garter toss. No special songs here; we’ll just boot up the iPod and turn down the sound a bit. I do plan on borrowing a bridesmaid bouquet for the toss, though, as I’d like to keep mine in tip-top shape. I’m also reclaiming my garter from the lucky fella. I heard a hot suggestion to tie a gift card to the bouquet and garter to promote that old-fashioned excitement our uninterested-in-marriage single folks just don’t seem to procure these days.

And last but not least? Birdseed. We’re tossing birdseed as we make our exit to our getaway scooter. It’s not quite as traditional as rice, but we wanted to be as animal-friendly as possible. I had originally suggested deer corn when I thought the park would allow seeds, and wouldn’t you know it, my country-bumpkin, redneck groom said it would be, “too hick-town.” Can you believe it? I was shocked. So, I called the Parks and Rec services department and got the all-clear on birdseed. I picked up a huge $10 bag from Wal-Mart and now we’re all good to go!

What traditions are you keeping, and which ones have you decided to break?