Tradition means bringing something from the past into the present.  It can mean a holiday tradition or something that is passed along from one generation to the next.

I was married on Wednesday, for the third time. I can hear you all gasping and wondering how I might have found the time to marry three times. Really, my life is quite simple and I do take the vows of marriage very seriously.  This is why I married my husband, one man, three separate times.

We were married, the first time, twenty years ago in a church in Upstate New York.  In our early twenties, we were both so nervous that I’m not sure I could tell you exactly what I repeated in front of a hundred family and friends to proclaim my love for my husband.  I stood and held both hands of his hands and repeated what was read to me.  I remember walking on the beach, the next day, hundreds of miles away from the silk and tulle and thinking now that it’s all over, I wish I could have the wedding again and really enjoy it… remember it.

So ten years later, we renewed our vows on the beaches of the Outer Banks.  We stood with our toes in the sand together with our two year old daughter, Lilly.  It was totally different than the first time we said our vows, yet we were making a commitment, the same commitment again. As I stood on the beach, I held the hand of Steve, my daughter, and the leash of my labrador, Rex.

Wednesday, the evening of our 20th anniversary, he surprised me and took me to a church here in La Jolla.  We stood together, again with Lilly, and promised to love and cherish one another for the rest of our lives. Standing at the alter of the little chapel, I held Steve and Lilly’s hands and a fist full of pink gerber daisies.

We think of weddings as the tradition, but I think it is marriage that is a tradition. Marriage is a tradition that should be brought from past to present to remind and reinforce the bond between two people.  To make the promise of love and commitment to one another was memorable, but to see my 12 year old daughter taking it all in… was a gift.

Create traditions within your own families that include your children.  They will take those traditions and make them memories which will last long beyond your lifetime.

We only had wedding cake at our first wedding, but it seems like the best design to tie to this blog post.

I do love to use these gift enclosure cards when sending a gift to a bride-to-be. They are colorful without being over the top. This design makes a great stationery gift for a bride also. I’ve sent a stationery set, along with an engraved letter opener, for a memorable gift for the bride and groom.