5 Wedding Traditions to Ditch (Volume #3)

(A good example of being clear on whom is invited) Few things are worse for the wedding guest than not knowing if it is OK to bring a date. Some couples intentionally keep their wedding invitations vague to try to nudge guests to only bring a date in obvious scenarios (the guest is married or engaged). If you are close enough to the guest to invite them to your wedding, then you are probably close enough to allow them to bring a date. If you really don’t want them to bring a date, at least be clear about that on the invite. And a message for guests… weddings are expensive. Keep this in mind when answering the invitation. If you were covering the cost, would you invite a date? Ask yourself this question before answering. If it is a serious or semi-serious relationship, invite your date. If not, save the couple some money and fly solo. You’ll probably have more fun anyway.

We have a Pinterest board for “don’t go broke planning your wedding”. We are advocates for not overspending on weddings. However, of all the ways to save money, don’t do it by asking your guests to buy their own drinks. You can keep the bar pretty minimal by offering a small selection of beer and wine. You can also manage the expense by revisiting the # of guests and the hours of open bar. Getting married is a larger version of having friends and family over for dinner. Imagine charging your dinner guests for drinks. We recently heard from a guest who went to a wedding with a cash bar, and it really was a cash-only bar. The bar didn’t take credit cards and a good portion of the guests hadn’t thought to bring cash.

Not sure who started this tradition, but this creates a bunch of awkward scenarios. If a married couple attends your wedding, and only one is in the bridal party, then the married couple can’t even sit together at your wedding.  Consider adding this to your list of wedding traditions to ditch.

Nobody is going to seriously object to your marriage. If they are serious, they have really bad timing in waiting for this moment. If they are joking, then you just opened the door for some goof to attention-grab on one of the most important days of your life. Ditch the “speak now or forever hold your peace” moment.

You don’t want to make your guests stand and wait in a long line. It wastes your guests’ time while making you rush through your greetings. Instead, after you and your partner finish your dinner, go table-to-table and greet your guests in a comfortable setting. Don't forget to check out our other volumes of 5 Outdated Wedding Traditions to Ditch for more ideas of what to skip.