A guide to all the terminology you'll encounter when planning your big day.
October 23, 2023
Cutting Cake
If an enormous wedding cake to feed the entire guest count isn’t a priority or in the budget, a small “cutting cake” is often created specifically for the cake-cutting tradition. This route is usually chosen when couples want the ceremonial moment but plan to serve a different type of dessert or cake to guests.
Floral Installation
“A floral arrangement that lives on a wall, on a ceiling, or anywhere else outside of a vase,” explains Malori Maeva, owner of Form Floral. “These designs feel like they sprouted out of the ground and are usually the ‘wow’ of your wedding day.”
Jane in the Woods
Golden Hour
Refers to the hour before sunset when the light is just right. “Golden hour is such ideal lighting that it should be considered when determining timing of the ceremony and cocktail hour,” says Paige Robertson of Front Paige Events.
Last Dance
Couples are generally so busy on their wedding days, they often don’t get a chance to just take it all in and be together. Unlike the first dance, when all eyes are on the couple, a last dance offers them a private moment to be together as their wedding day comes to a close, typically before the send-off. The last dance also creates an amazing photo op.
Invitation Suite
This encompasses the package of paper goods that comes with your invitations. “It is the first thing that your guests see in relation to your wedding,” says Lauren Hamelin of Lauren Yvonne Design. “It should reflect who you are as a couple, so that when your guests open the envelope, they know who it is from even before they read the names on the invitation.”
The Essential Wedding Dictionary
A guide to all the terminology you'll encounter when planning your big day.
October 23, 2023
Cutting Cake
If an enormous wedding cake to feed the entire guest count isn’t a priority or in the budget, a small “cutting cake” is often created specifically for the cake-cutting tradition. This route is usually chosen when couples want the ceremonial moment but plan to serve a different type of dessert or cake to guests.
Floral Installation
“A floral arrangement that lives on a wall, on a ceiling, or anywhere else outside of a vase,” explains Malori Maeva, owner of Form Floral. “These designs feel like they sprouted out of the ground and are usually the ‘wow’ of your wedding day.”
Jane in the Woods
Golden Hour
Refers to the hour before sunset when the light is just right. “Golden hour is such ideal lighting that it should be considered when determining timing of the ceremony and cocktail hour,” says Paige Robertson of Front Paige Events.
Last Dance
Couples are generally so busy on their wedding days, they often don’t get a chance to just take it all in and be together. Unlike the first dance, when all eyes are on the couple, a last dance offers them a private moment to be together as their wedding day comes to a close, typically before the send-off. The last dance also creates an amazing photo op.
Invitation Suite
This encompasses the package of paper goods that comes with your invitations. “It is the first thing that your guests see in relation to your wedding,” says Lauren Hamelin of Lauren Yvonne Design. “It should reflect who you are as a couple, so that when your guests open the envelope, they know who it is from even before they read the names on the invitation.”
Melissa Ivy Photography
First Look
This is an opportunity to privately (with or without the photographer) see your significant other for the first time on your wedding day, before the ceremony. “The purpose is to create an intimate experience for the couple and a private moment of connection before the day flows into a whirlwind of wedding day formalities,” says photographer Kelly Birch of Kelly Birch Photography. This moment often includes the exchange of private vows or letters and creates a beat to snap photos in a “relaxed environment while the attire, hair and makeup are still fresh.”
First Touch
Less common than the first look, but equally special. Birch adds, “It has similar intentions as the first look to create a private, intimate and often emotion-filled moment without seeing each other fully dressed before the ceremony. It usually includes the same exchange of vows or letters, holding hands back to back or around a corner.”
Kelly Birch Photography
Strike
The time when vendors come to break down and pick up materials. Vendors will remove installations after the event. This removal will often need to be scheduled in a staggered manner between vendors, depending on the complexity and size of the event.
Styled Shoot
“A styled shoot is a creative collaboration of wedding-day vendors, inspired by specific elements, themes, eras or style,” Birch says. The intention is “to inspire future couples, planners and other industry professionals by showcasing new trends, ideas and creative possibilities many times that push the bounds of the expected.”
Toss Bouquet
The bouquet toss leaves wedding bouquets a wilted mess—not ideal for preservation. Florists will usually create a separate toss bouquet, which is a smaller arrangement fashioned specifically for the tradition, leaving the bridal bouquet intact to preserve.
Vendor Meals
These are the meals provided for the wedding vendors at the event. From the production team to the musicians, photographers, videographers, florists and others, it’s a nice gesture (and expected) to feed the wedding vendors throughout the entire wedding day.
Shantel Wall Photography
Melissa Ivy Photography
First Look
This is an opportunity to privately (with or without the photographer) see your significant other for the first time on your wedding day, before the ceremony. “The purpose is to create an intimate experience for the couple and a private moment of connection before the day flows into a whirlwind of wedding day formalities,” says photographer Kelly Birch of Kelly Birch Photography. This moment often includes the exchange of private vows or letters and creates a beat to snap photos in a “relaxed environment while the attire, hair and makeup are still fresh.”
First Touch
Less common than the first look, but equally special. Birch adds, “It has similar intentions as the first look to create a private, intimate and often emotion-filled moment without seeing each other fully dressed before the ceremony. It usually includes the same exchange of vows or letters, holding hands back to back or around a corner.”
Kelly Birch Photography
Strike
The time when vendors come to break down and pick up materials. Vendors will remove installations after the event. This removal will often need to be scheduled in a staggered manner between vendors, depending on the complexity and size of the event.
Styled Shoot
“A styled shoot is a creative collaboration of wedding-day vendors, inspired by specific elements, themes, eras or style,” Birch says. The intention is “to inspire future couples, planners and other industry professionals by showcasing new trends, ideas and creative possibilities many times that push the bounds of the expected.”
Toss Bouquet
The bouquet toss leaves wedding bouquets a wilted mess—not ideal for preservation. Florists will usually create a separate toss bouquet, which is a smaller arrangement fashioned specifically for the tradition, leaving the bridal bouquet intact to preserve.
Vendor Meals
These are the meals provided for the wedding vendors at the event. From the production team to the musicians, photographers, videographers, florists and others, it’s a nice gesture (and expected) to feed the wedding vendors throughout the entire wedding day.
