photo by Corbin Gurkin 

One thing still holds firm with many of our weddings we do throughout the South, and that’s tradition.  Many Southern brides have well known or tried and true traditions that we work to incorporate, and other times it varies by region or state and may not be as well known. We wanted to break it down for you in case you are looking for a little way to incorporate tradition into your upcoming wedding.  One that is definitely big with our Dallas brides is having a “house party”. A house party is essentially a second wedding party, your best girlfriends, sorority sisters, etc that wear special attire and sit up front, participate in all of the bridal party activities, but it just cuts back on the big number of people standing up front with the couple. 

Another popular trend that actually seems to get the guys excited and on board- burying the bourbon.  The folklore states that if you bury a bottle upside down in the ground, it won’t rain on your wedding day.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

I have to say it worked out pretty well for this couple… it was a gorgeous day for them.

photos by Liz Banfield (1,2) and Corbin Gurkin

This one has seemed to spread beyond just being a Southern thing, but we have our fair share of groom’s cakes on display still.  Usually the design is something sports related- like a favorite college or pro team, or maybe something related to a profession. Or, a favorite food or something from a movie or tv show. Whatever it may be, take that as a chance to put a custom mark on it.

photos by Corbin Gurkin and Liz Banfield

Another classic Southern wedding tradition is displaying the bride’s portrait somewhere at the wedding. It used to be just on an easel or in a frame on a table positioned somewhere near where everyone enters, but we try to do something different with it so that it can become a design moment.  For a wedding at Lowndes Grove Plantation we took down a painting and hung up one of our bride.  For another wedding, we blew up the photos and hung them at the tent entrance as part of a floral wall, all as a surprise for our bride…