Following the Leader

There is a voice that sounds from the deep within seemingly logical side of my brain (but perhaps truly stemming from my ego) that tells me to resist timely trends and to keep my wardrobe/wedding/general aesthetic classic and timeless. But what if the current trends are your definition of classic? What if the current trends are right up your alley and you feel happy to be in your 20s-somethings reveling in flattering natural waist silhuettes, drinking from mason jars at a fancy soiree and gorging yourself on organic brunch with hand-mixed cocktails on your Saturday morning?  Is it somehow selling out to give in to the tide of the popular trend?

sources: Green Wedding Shoes and Eat Drink Chic

Miss Knitting's recent post on Weddingbee about her love of on-going, possibly "overdone" in the blog world wedding trends hits the nail on the head, and reminds me of my passion about this topic.  Ever since junior high school, I've been well aware of how a trendy new style, item, or even pastime can sneak up on you.  You casually notice it in passing and it marinates in your subconscious until you put it into practice and think it is your own genius idea. For my best friend, it was butterfly hair-clips.  For me, white eyeliner.  I thought, "Brilliant! White eyeliner will make my eyes look bigger and will make my brown eyes pop!!" A few days later, I noticed half the girls in school were also sporting white eyeliner-  what a bunch of posers.  A week later, I learned it was in that month's issue of Seventeen. 

I do not regret wearing white eyeliner.  It was a passing teenage fad. It's what we did.  It was a late-90's look. Likewise, I love my parents' wedding in all of it's long-sleeved high-necked empire waist gown and butter yellow tuxedo glory because it was awesome and beautiful.  These days vintage, handmade weddings are holding strong because they too are awesome, beautiful, thoughtful labors of love.  And it's the love that makes them timeless.

Our guests won't know this Anthropology-inspired wedding aesthetic is a popular trend because they're not researching wedding inspiration twenty-four-seven like we blog-obsessed brides are.  But most importantly, if a choice you make happens to be a recent trend, or if a recent trend in the blogosphere and in a magazine makes your heart sing, I think you should embrace it! I think it just means that it's a great time for you to get married and cash in on the popularity. There is no need to spend our effort and energy trying to be different for the sake of being different.  It's a headache to explain a left-field vision to every vendor you meet and defend your ideas against eyebrow-raised loved-ones. If you love something, go for it, and chances are your guests will think it's 100% unique.

Your wedding is your day to express your creativity and personality!  And when I see another bride post about gingham linens, I need to remind myself: I didn't invent gingham.