Wedding Etiquette and Traditions

We have 257 days to go until we say "I do." I'm staying busy with clinical but my mind is never too far from the wedding planning...surprise, surprise! My bridesmaids have asked me about showers and such, so I've been trying to brush up on my wedding etiquette for these such events. I found this great site that explains everything from wedding ceremony processional order to where the water, white wine, and red wine glasses go in a formal place setting (I kinda skipped that section...we aren't trying for a black tie wedding here).

I've always been one for tradition, maybe it comes from my Dad's love of history and my love of my Dad and his stories....not sure. For example, Cary and I rang the chapel bell at UGA after we got engaged. That tradition began as a way to call students to classes and chapel. Later, the tradition morphed into a celebration of sorts for football game victories. While that tradition still lives today (I've definitely stood in line to do that after beating the Vols or Techies!), it has become custom to ring the bell when anything good happens. As a form of celebration.

Hence, we rang the chapel bell after getting engaged.

Not sure if you can read this, but if not, click on it to enlarge:

Anyway, have you ever wondered why in the world wedding invitations are sent in two envelopes? According to Crane & Co. Wedding Etiquette,
Wedding invitations were once delivered by hand. If you were a bride back in those days, your footman delivered your invitations to your guests' homes. Their servants received the invitations and removed them from their mailing envelope, an envelope much too pedestrian for your guests to handle themselves. The servants, then, presented the invitation to your guests in its pristine inside envelope. Because the invitations were already at their destination, the inside envelopes had only the names of your guests written on them. The address was no longer needed. They just had to be directed to the appropriate members of the household.
Cool, huh?
And if you ever wondered why there's that random bit of tissue inside those envelopes read here. With all of this wedding etiquette and tradition, I've got a ton to read up on! I'm definitely thankful I'm not having to study for tests or write papers anymore!