We love when couples choose to incorporate their culture or wedding traditions on their big day. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we're sharing some of our favorite Irish wedding traditions!

1. Horseshoe:

Horseshoe symbolizes good luck in many cultures. In Irish tradition, brides carried a horseshoe with them on their wedding day to bring good luck to the occasion and their marriage. Eventually, instead of an actual horseshoe brides started carrying a symbol of the horseshoe. According to the legends, the horseshoe should face up resembling a "U" so that the luck doesn't run out.

Photo Source Etsy

Arina was excited to celebrate her 23rd birthday party with her family and close friends. Little did she know that her then-boyfriend, Masis, was going to propose to her that night, and turn the event into their engagement party!

Before we share their romantic surprise proposal story, let's get to know the couple a bit. Masis and Arina met in 2014 and soon started dating. When we asked the couple how they met, Masis responded "It was love at first sight when I saw Arina shopping at the mall with her friend. A couple months later I finally got around to find her on Instagram, and it all started there!" 

We're thrilled to share with you Mary and Raffi's fairytale wedding! Mary was one of Bride's Story bloggers and she shared her wedding planning adventures on Mary's Story blog series. Mary and Raffi got married on October 21, 2017 at Allure Event's Crystal Ballroom. We spoke with Mary and she shared with us her wedding day timeline, the many Armenian traditions they incorporated into their wedding day, and her gorgeous wedding photos!

Ladies, if you still haven't bought a Valentine's Day gift, we've got the perfect solution for you. Give your man the gift of style with a JB Clothiers gift certificate. JB Clothiers is located in Downtown Los Angeles and is the #1 rated suit designer in LA on Yelp. JB Clothiers offers bespoke suits, tuxedos, dress shirts, and sports coats that are specifically tailored to your man's image and lifestyle.

Email or call us at (818) 457-1740 by Tuesday 6pm to place your order and we'll have a beautifully designed gift certificate delivered to you on Wednesday, just in time for Valentine's Day (local deliveries only). You can customize the message in your gift certificate and treat your man to a custom shirt, sports coat or suit, depending on your budget. Best os all, JB Clothiers offers free lifetime alterations to Harsanik clients so your gift will last a lifetime.   

Finally getting a chance to get caught up on my blog! A few months before our wedding, Raffi and I decided to do our engagement photo shoot. We chose San Francisco as our engagement photo shoot location because Raffi found a picture of the Cypress Tree Tunnel online and we both loved it! 

Last year, our hearts melted when we came across Sako's surprise proposal to Lilit in the middle of their Armenian dance performance. Both being members of the Zvartnots Dance Ensemble, it was no surprise that Sako chose to propose at their dance studio where it all started. We're thrilled to now bring you more details on the couple's love story, their recent engagement party at L.A. Banquets Legacy Ballroom, and photos from their engagement photo shoot. We spoke with Lilit to get an inside scoop on the proposal, their engagement party, and upcoming 2018 wedding.

2017 was an unforgettable year! We are fortunate to have shared so many beautiful and incredibly romantic proposal, engagement, photoshoot, and wedding stories on our blog. We are truly grateful to all the couples who took the time to share their love story with us, along with gorgeous photos and touching videos from the many talented photographers and videographers.

We're thrilled to share with you the top 9 most popular stories from 2017!

#9:Mikhail and Varti's Destination Photoshoot in Iceland

We remember the first time we saw the picture of Varti and Mikhail standing on top of an abandoned airplane. Jaw dropping. And that was not the only shot that captivated us. The couple's pre-wedding photoshoot in Iceland is breathtaking.

On December 29, 2016, international tennis superstar, Serena Williams, announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, in the form of a poem on no other than Reddit!

For those not familiar with Alexis Ohanian, he's a tech guru of Armenian descent. The team at Harsanik is a huge fan of Alexis and we're inspired by his accomplishments.

Photo Source: Alexis Ohanian Blog

Here are 16 interesting facts about Alexis Ohanian:

1. Co-founder of Reddit, a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Reddit is currently the #7 most visited site in the USA according to Alexa.

Flower girls have a special place in every wedding as they pave the way for the bride! Traditionally, the flower girls toss flowers from their baskets as they walk down the aisle. Recently, we've seen different trends and alternatives for flowers and props. Here are our favorites.

Single Stems:

Instead of carrying a basket, have your flower girls carry a single stem of a similar flower to your bridal bouquet. For example Alliums, Peony and Dahlia are popular choices.

Photo source PopSugar

From the engagement party, bridal shower, bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner to the morning of, every bride needs a few looks for the numerous events leading up to her special day! With Rent the Runway, you can wear your dream outfit to each event by renting designer dresses for less. In most cases, since each look is photographed and reserved for the specific day, brides only wear those outfits once anyways! And with Cyber Monday, you can save 30% off if you order today!

We browsed Rent the Runway and here are 12 of our favorite bridal dresses: