There are certain traditions that I think are worth keeping, especially if they have significance in your life or you simply just like them. But I am so thankful I can ditch wedding traditions and pick and choose what I like. No one wants to go to a generic wedding that doesn’t reflect the bride and groom. Forget tradition! Be who you are!
The Bouquet/Garter Toss
This was #1 on both our lists of ways to ditch wedding traditions. Maybe it’s because we have been traumatized by awkward Four Weddings scenes, but these are absolutely NOT happening. Nope. Girl bye. Your parents are there! Kids are around! Why are you shimmying up your wife’s leg? IT’S SO AWKWARD! And why does someone want something that had your thigh sweat on it? JUST SAY NO! My Fiance is absolutely shocked when this happens at weddings and was the one who made me swear this absolutely was not happening.
Also I’m not spending money on a bouquet that no one wants. The end.
Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Something New
Blue has absolutely no place in my wedding. Nothing against the color but this is not a blue wedding. Initially I thought it would be fun to do this tradition but it’s just too much to keep up with. I don’t want to worry if something is new, borrowed or blue. Just give me what I want and let’s roll!
A Unity Ceremony
I feel like unity candles/sand/anything are those things you get stuck with for years that you really don’t want but feel like throwing it out will curse your wedding. How to get rid of the curse? Never have one to begin with. We’re having a unique ceremony already and the traditional unity element just isn’t really our thing. Plus I really don’t want to have to deal with forgetting to do it during the ceremony which is unfortunately all too common.
Canon in D
Truthfully I get why people choose this song, it’s a classic and much easier than find THE song to walk down to. I thought a LOT about this one and started listening to a ton of instrumental versions of pop songs. Yes, Drake was on the list.
Then one day it hit me. An instrumental version of With or Without you by U2. Ken and I went to Chicago to see U2 and it’s his all-time favorite band. BAM. I knew it the moment I heard this version that was the song. I also wanted a really long song to allow for our very long aisle and this clocks in at over 6 minutes!
Oh and for those of you wondering, I’m determined to work Drake into this somehow for the ceremony so stay tuned on how that plays out. Turns out that God’s Plan sounds quite nice on a violin.
Favors
I have yet to go to a wedding where I have kept the favor. The only useful one I got was donut holes and we were too tired to even eat them and then they got stale. I find them to be a big waste of money and stress. Your favor is the wedding so enjoy it!
EDIT: So I wrote out this entire blog post and then found the most clever favors that I actually liked! It’s a bit DIY but totally goes in with the wedding theme and I am actively seeking some freelance to make a little money to pay for them. This just goes to show you that you can’t exactly ALWAYS be rigid and unwilling to change your mind.
Whatever way you ditch wedding traditions, I hope you feel the freedom that having a ceremony or reception that reflects you as a couple are greatly outweighs “tradition.” Your day is yours and don’t let anyone take that away from you. Listen to your gut and never agree to something that doesn’t sit well with your vision. You’ll never regret standing up for what you want.
Rachelle
good for you for doing things your way.
xo
Pinksole
dana mannarino
This post was super creative! My sister didn’t have a lot of those “traditional” details either…and it was perfect for her and my brother in law! Always remember IT IS YOUR DAY!
Dana | The Champagne Edit
Meg @ Closet Fashionista
Yep, I HATE the garter/bouquet toss. I would always hide for that part of a wedding – now I won’t have to anymore. Since Christian and I didn’t have a traditional wedding we didn’t have to worry about that, or the walking down the aisle song. And I never got the appeal of unity ceremonies either. Why would I want 2 different colored sand displayed in my house in a plastic vase forever? Ha ha.
I did do something blue, borrowed, old and new but it was easy, haha. Dress = new, borrowed/old = Mom’s bracelet that was my grandmother’s and blue/old = a topaz necklace from my other grandma
I also wasn’t going to do favors but then my mom thought of doing mini picture frames with photos from our wedding ceremony (we had the actual ceremony a week before with just my parents and grandparents) so people could see where we got married and then reuse the frame. And we made french macarons that people could eat at the party or take home for later
http://closet-fashionista.com/
Anna
We ditched nearly all of these things as well. I guess I did the “something new, something borrowed, something blue” thing but not really intentionally. We also didn’t do a cake cutting, because we had other desserts instead of cake. We did do favors – I’ve received several that just don’t get used after and are a waste, but I made cookies from my grandma’s (who passed away when I was 14) recipes and put them in a cute baggie with our wedding “logo.” They went over great, and if anyone didn’t want them right then they lasted a few days.
Karly
Yay, good for you! I don’t think there’s any rules anymore in regard to wedding traditions – do what works for you and your hubby-to-be. I did a bouquet toss, but opted-out of the awkward garter thing, too. Instead, we put the garter on a football and Ryan tossed that to his group of single buddies. It was cute, got me out of being publicly felt-up, and our friend that got it got a free football out of the deal!
Just sayin’,
Karly @ What Karly Said
Lisa Autumn
You go girl! It’s your day so you just do whatever makes you happy 🙂
x Lisa | lisaautumn.com
Nikki C
Hell yes to ditching wedding traditions and doing things your way! I also ditched all of these and then some (we didn’t cut a cake or anything like that). AND I walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of Islands by The xx. Loved it. It’s your day, make it one that *you* enjoy.
Stephanie
Even aside from you saving me from being knife-less for my cake cutting, lol, your wedding posts are my favorite.
But we’re not doing any of those either! We were also very adamant about incorporating Drake into the ceremony, so we’re doing a Drake song for the recessional!
Sincerely, Jennie
We had said no to gift bags thinking they were a waste of money, but a few weeks before our wedding we changed our mind and purchased yummy Chicago-centric treats. I don’t know why but in the end we decided it’d be the nice thing to do and we were happy with what we settled on.