My friend S got married a couple years ago, and was very eager to Incorporate all the cultural influences of their lives into their wedding. One of those elements was the origami swan project. S’s grandparents are Japanese, and there is a tradition passed down in her family to make 1000 origami swans for the couple before their wedding day. Since that is a MASSIVE undertaking, she enlisted all of her bridesmaids to help.

It turns out the other bridesmaids were far more organized than I was about this than I – some even had weeknight movie parties with their friends to make swans and watch at the same time (a great way to get everyone together during the pre-wedding months). I, of course, procrastinated until the last week before the wedding, and panicked. How was I going to get this all done? I was going to curse her wedding! Why was I such a slacker! Etc. etc. It turns out its really easy – there are several online sites to show you how to make an origami swan. I turned the swans into the bride and all went well on the day of the wedding. Sigh of relief!

Later on, S sent me a photo of what her mom did with the swans – it’s a STUNNING mural. What an amazing family heirloom! She will have it for the rest of her life, and likely pass it down in her family. If this is a tradition your family also shares, you should do something like this. I think this is a great example of incorporating in special family traditions into your wedding process and your wedding day in a meaningful way.