A Tradition Is What You Make It

I hope you all are enjoying October and the fall thus far! This month always makes me incredibly, painfully nostalgic for college at Kenyon; the very, very special spot in central Ohio where I spent four years, met my husband, sang my heart out (oh yes, a capella group style...) and learned how to throw parties with the best of them. Seriously, some of the best soirees I've ever been to were during those four years at Kenyon College.

People were so creative, it was ridiculous! Must have been something in the corn-filled air or in the food at the dining hall or in the beer in the keg...I don't know. But I do know that some of the most outrageous ideas I've ever seen came straight from The Hill, as we fondly call it. For example: The "Shock Your Mama" party - where you might just see someone dressed in Saran Wrap. Or the "Redhead Party" - where everyone arrived with red hair - real and fake - and feasted on red food and Killian's Red. Or, my personal favorite, the "Luge Party" - where we built a luge from a 500 pound block of ice IN our bathroom and served a delectable array of juices and potions that you would drink in tandem from one of the two handmade trails down the ice. Sounds like fun, right? I'd be up for one of these parties tonight - if only they didn't start about 3 hours past my current bed time. :)

There are so many ways that you can take inspiration from college or another special part of your life and incorporate it into your wedding or special event. For instance, we had an event at Kenyon called "Freshman Sing" where all of the Freshmen would stand on a set of stairs outside and sing all of the dozens of school songs while the rest of the school would cheer (or jeer) us on. We would then do this again as Seniors - an emotional and nostalgic nod to our time as naive first year students.

Why not have a sing along at your event? This does not only need to be reserved for holiday parties. One of *the best* wedding ideas I heard lately was from a producer in LA who I worked with last winter who told me that she handed out sheet music to her guests and had everyone since a rousing rendition together of "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life". How cute is that? Now that's a wedding moment people will not forget any time soon.

Traditions come in many shapes and sizes. At Kenyon, it seemed there was a tradition for just about everything. My family was always full of traditions so this felt natural to me, but at the same time definitely pushed me to maintain and create traditions in my own life and family - things that can be carried on for years to come. You may create a tradition at your wedding or event that you decide to do every year on that day. A tradition is what you make it. If it means something to you and is relevant to a special moment in time, there's no reason why you can't carry it on, give it a name, and make sure that it lasts a lifetime. Now off to buy a block of ice...

XOXO

grace