It was as I was putting together a wedding (appearing later this week) containing a wonderful bouquet toss that made me stop and think about wedding traditions last week. We're all familiar with them; the first dance, the cutting of the wedding cake, the tossing of the wedding garter, the scattering of candy coloured confetti over the bride and groom as they exit the church...and more besides.

We all know these weird and wonderful rituals, hell half of us have whipped a snowy white pillowcase over our heads and acted them out in some shape or form since we were wee ones but how many of us have actually really thought long and hard about the significance of them.

And when I say 'significance' I'm not referring to the meaning behind the gestures but rather why we continue to reenact them time and time again on our respective wedding days.

I ask you then are wedding traditions a loving nod to the past or outdated nonsense?

If we're entering the confessional here, then I'll admit that I probably didn't think all that much about these 'customs' during my planning journey. I knew we wanted a cake (the boy has SUCH a sweet tooth that we couldn't not have a lemon drizzle sponge) and I have a self-confessed obsession with old school confetti (80's stylee with the horseshoes and the bells and the bows) so we were always going to include the confetti toss. And of course how could we not shuffle around slightly awkwardly for our first dance...

But I was never completely sold on the wedding garter idea nor the thought of wearing a veil over my face as I glided down the aisle and as for leaving the party early before the night was over...well that was NEVER going to happen.

But that was as far as any deep, philosophical thinking on the matter went. It wasn't so much a case of 'well that's the way it's always been done so I'll have to do it too' but more of a feeling that I knew I'd look back and regret not having these sentimental moments included in my memory bank to relive when I was grey and old.

Yes I am a sentimental fool.

I've mentioned before, on these pages, one of my earliest memories of catching a wedding bouquet when I was small from one of my mother's friends. Clearly it's stayed with me; I can still physically taste that feeling of elation and surprise as I caught the bouquet and the glow that radiated from me for the remainder of the day and weeks afterwards.

So why didn't I throw my own bouquet on my wedding day then so as to give someone else that self-same gift? If I'm honest it was a mixture of timing and of selfishness; the day whizzed along at a rate of knots meaning there wasn't a moment to spare to toss it amongst my female friends but there was also a huge part of me that just couldn't bear to part with it either.

Hmmmmm.

One of the wonderful things about working within the wedding industry means that we're in contact with hundreds if not thousands of you every day. And we notice things...trends that come and go, the must-have bridal gowns that are now in vogue as opposed to last summer, as well as the changing attitudes of brides and grooms to name a few.

And it seems that less and less of you are choosing to partake in wedding traditions. After all, why have a traditional fruit wedding cake when you can have chocolate...even cheese! Why throw confetti when you can release personalised balloons. Who said you have to spend the night before your wedding apart and why shouldn't the groom be a part of your wedding dress adventures?

We'll often read the fevered cries, ' It's just not us!! ', from brides and grooms in our real wedding reports when trying to explain away their decision not to have a first dance or the cutting of their cake. Sometimes some age-old wedding customs just don't fit with today's wedding structures - the traditional early wedding departure of the newlyweds for example becomes defunct if the couple are choosing to overnight at their wedding venue.

And I haven't even got started on new traditions that are starting to emerge - the 'Americanised' first look springs to mind here...

The question remains then; so why do we do it?

Are traditions our way of paying homage to the past in this fast-forward, technology-dependent world of ours? A way of holding on to something real...something tangible? A means of connecting with the world of our grandparents and great-grandparents and perhaps even further back than that? Perhaps it's more practical than that...perhaps each of these individual rituals are a brilliant way of structuring what can be a very long and emotional day.

Or actually are these 'sentimental moments' more of a hindrance to modern day brides and grooms? A political minefield as couples dodge their way to 'I Do'? An opportunity for opinionated family members to berate you for not doing it 'their way'.

So what do you think? Are wedding traditions important to you or do they bring you out in hives? Perhaps you've decided to take a pick-a-mix approach and will only include those that are important to you; which ones will you be including on your big day and why?

And are there any customs you truly hate?

As usual I want to hear all about it.

All my love Lolly xxx