Sentimental Cancer needs a wedding that feels both festive and intimate. Here are the 5 essential components of the Cancer wedding planner.
Romance, nostalgia and tons of meaningful gestures are the hallmarks of a Cancer wedding.
The Cancer wedding setting
Write your own vows, read a favorite poem or passage or, if you’re shy, let your favorite songs express your true feelings. Big crowds give you the willies, so a well-edited guest list is essential for your comfort. Cancer is symbolized by the Crab, and a small, intimate wedding (family and a few close friends) creates the safety of “being in your shell.” The “micro-wedding” trend was made for your sign, so keep the guest list as small you’d like. Don’t worry about offending people—remember that it’s your day! Pampering attendees in high style is easier when working with a smaller guest list, too.
You’re a water sign, Cancer, so consider a wedding on the beach, in a seaside town, or even on a yacht or a houseboat. Since Cancer rules home and family, your parents’ house, a nostalgic childhood vacation spot, or even an historic mansion stir up those homey, heart-warming vibes. Include favorite family members as much as possible. Keep your decor romantic and nostalgic, using framed family photos as table centerpieces. Or, place generations of family wedding photos on your escort card table.
The moon rules your sign, so take inspiration with opalescent bone china, decorative silver flatware, and floral arrangements that look like they were picked straight from your garden. As a foodie, serve a really special meal that your guests will savor. This is where you’ll want to splurge if there’s anything left over in the budget! Since you like to cut costs, you might do a buffet and pass lots of mouth-watering appetizers. For Cancers who hide their sensitive sides, show how much you care by adding special touches, great favors, and thoughtful welcome baskets. You’ll create an unforgettable experience that leaves your guests feeling totally nurtured in an extra-special way.
Cancer wedding wear
Surrender to your old-fashioned side today! While lace looks over-the-top on some, it’s often just right on you. Ribbons, pearl buttons down the back, and brocade are also great touches. The body part associated with Cancer is the chest, so show a little décolletage, open up a few buttons or go strapless. If you’re wearing a dress, the bodice of your gown should be the main feature.
Suiting up? Find a vintage tuxedo shirt with tons of ruffles or an unusual collar; or adorn with a snappy bow tie. Edgier Cancers may want to get a vintage gown updated, even shortened, by a talented tailor. Don’t feel that you have to wear white! You look great in oyster, ivory, even beige— anything with an antique feel.
The Cancer wedding ring
With your love of history, consider a ring that hearkens a past era. If available, a family heirloom passed through the generations truly belongs on your finger. Or source one from a high-end antique dealer. Inscribe the band with a favorite passage so you’ll get all sentimental when you look at it. Maybe a cushion-cut stone, which features rounded corners and larger facets to increase brilliance on a band with pretty, vintage touches like knife-edge (thick at the base and tapering up to a point) or pavé (multiple small diamonds set close together and held in place by tiny prongs).
The Cancer wedding party
Cancers treasure their closest childhood friends, and chances are you’ll want yours by your side on your special day. You’re more likely to want a small wedding party of only a trusted few. Somebody’s got to hand you tissues when you ultimately get misty-eyed or weepy! With your parental instinct, you might want to create roles for children in your ceremony. An adorable ring bearer, a cherubic flower girl, even kids wearing angel wings—nothing’s too sweet for you when it comes to the little ones. You could even invite young relatives to light a unity candle together.
Cancer wedding pro tip
Watch the mood swings. As a visualist, you crave a picture–perfect wedding. And as an emotional sign, you’re quickly sensitive and may take frustrations out on your friends and family. You could burst into tears when the pastry chef doesn’t get the test cake right, or if the kerning is off on the invitations. But you may snap so much that by the time the wedding arrives, everyone’s cranky with you. Lean on your parents, or even a therapist, through the whole process to keep your stress reactions in check.