5 Wedding Traditions to Ditch (Volume #1)

How outdated is this tradition? Brides have close friends and family members who are men. Likewise, grooms have close friends and family members who are women. Why not let the sister of the groom be a grooms(wo)man? Don’t take it too far and invite one of your exes to be in your bridal party.

For most weddings, the cocktail hour comes after the ceremony. We attended a wedding recently where a bar was set up on the way into the ceremony. This was such a nice touch, as let’s face it, most people don’t find wedding ceremonies particularly fun. Obviously, you don’t want any of your guests getting drunk before you exchange vows. So don’t make this a full-on cocktail hour.

Be kind to your closest friends and family. They are already spending a ton of money to go to your wedding, attend various bachelor(ette) parties, buy you a present, and God knows what else. Tux rentals can run $150 to $250. Bridesmaid dresses can be even more expensive. If it is that important to you that all of your bridal party perfectly match, then consider ponying up and paying the expense yourself. If you aren’t willing to cover this expense, don’t ask your closest people to do it.

Why are we forced to choose a side at a wedding? What happens if a married couple attends the wedding, and one is closer to the groom but the other is closer to the bride? How uncomfortable is it when one side is full and the other side only has a few people? Please get away from playing the Berlin wall at your wedding ceremonies. Allow guests to sit where they please and add this to your list of wedding traditions to ditch.

Throwing rice at weddings isn’t nearly as popular today as it used to be. The tradition was to throw rice to encourage good luck and fertility. However, this tradition became less popular when a rumor floated that a bird would eat the uncooked rice, and that the rice would expand in its stomach, killing the poor bird. Let’s first set this straight… the rice doesn’t harm birds. Birds eat rice (and other seeds) all the time. However, that doesn’t mean that a newly married bride and groom want to be pelted in the face with rice, immediately following their event. Skip the rice, and consider sparklers instead. Sparklers make for a much better Kodak moment.