British vs North American Wedding Traditions
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Curious about how they do things the other side of the pond? Me too! It feels like there has been a long-standing tradition of looking across the Atlantic, being intrigued by how each other live their lives.
When I speak to Canadians I know who are living in the UK, they talk about the culture shock they first felt when they moved here. On the surface of things, you would think we are not that far apart; we are both developed, western countries, predominantly English speaking, we share a lot of the same TV shows / movies and Canada even has the same Queen! However, I’m told that’s the very thing that catches you out…on the surface things seem the same, but it’s all subtly different, to the point of being unnerving. You think, “I’ll catch the bus”, but then how do you actually catch a bus? Or, “I’ll take a walk”, but then you’re looking the wrong way to cross the street and keep getting lost because UK cities are not built on a grid. M i n d b l o w n!
After my latest trip to North America where I met up with Ana of Ana Rancourt Photography, a Toronto (and surrounding areas) based photographer to talk weddings, I was shocked to learn how different our weddings actually are, from the moment the question is popped until we hang up our dancing shoes! It’s surprising because again, I feel like this is one of those things where on the surface of it, we would very much recognise each other’s weddings as weddings! Plus surely we’ve all seen enough Four Weddings and a Funeral, or Bridesmaids to know what it’s all about, not to mention Meghan and Harry’s big day! But turns out, the way we go about it all is, again, subtly different at almost every turn…and I’m not just talking about how us Brits feel the need to stick a bird cage on the side of our heads as part of our wedding-guest attire! And no, that wasn’t just a royal wedding thing, it’s normal here I’m ashamed to say.
Ana and I both decided there are definitely elements from each other’s traditions that we hope might catch on in the future. If you’re left wanting to know more, check out the video we’ve put together for you and let us know your favourite traditions you want to adopt!
With special thanks to Ana for taking part in today’s video and being a great guest co-host. If you would like to know more about Ana and her photography services, her website can be found here.
—Bride Society, with guest host, Ana.
