A traditional wedding party is usually made up of bridesmaids, groomsmen, a maid of honor, best man and perhaps a flower girl and ring bearer if the couple has some tots in the family. The father of the bride typically walks her down the aisle, and the other parents and grandparents of the couple get a front-row seat to the ceremony.
It's no secret, though, that weddings have been shirking tradition for some time; a lot of antiquated rituals are being passed by, and brides and grooms are customizing their weddings to fit their particular families, tastes and customs. For example, more and more brides are having their fathers and mothers accompany them down the aisle, since it's less about a man "giving away" his daughter to another man and instead about a bride having those closest to her by her side as she starts the next chapter of her life.
And especially in times like these, there is no one-size-fits-all type of couple that plans a wedding. Times are a'changin', and newlywed Lyndsey Raby found an especially sweet way to honor her family.
Raby picked her flower girl(s) out of a very different pool than is usual -- rather than employ a cherubic kid, she instead asked her two grandmothers, great-grandmother and her now-husband's grandmother to take on the role.
The four women (Wanda Grant, 76, Betty Brown, 72, Kathleen Brown, 90, and Joyce Raby, 72) wowed the assembled so much that Raby, the bride, nearly had to share the spotlight.
"Everyone is still talking about my flower girls," she told TODAY Style.
The matriarchs wore matching lacy, powder blue dresses with jackets to the Benton, Tenn. wedding in September and apparently were the life of the party -- and the wedding photos, according to photographer Natalie Caho.
"I was not expecting the level of sass that these girls brought. Their energy all day was that of a little girl who was in the same position," she said. "It truly just goes to show that age is just a number."
Bravo -- what a truly lovely idea.