Wedding Traditions That You Can Absolutely Break

At the heart of it, weddings are 100% traditional, but over the years, they have changed and evolved. While it’s still wonderful to keep some of the older wedding traditions alive, there are no longer any rules that say you have to stick to all of them.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common wedding traditions that you can skip if you heart isn’t into them…

The bride’s family paying for the day

There is absolutely no need for the bride’s family to take care of all the costs. Yes, some families prefer to still do this, but others are happy to split the cost between the couple and the two families.

The bridal march

If you have always dreamed about walking down the aisle in a big dress to the bridal march, by all means, live your dream. For everyone else, you can walk down the aisle to anything you want to – this is your wedding day! I have heard all kinds of different songs played at our brides enter the ceremony and in all honestly…I love when couples choose something outside of the box! My faves? The song from Rent, and Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey!

Matching bridesmaid dresses

While you do want your bridesmaids to look similar and for their outfits to flow, they definitely don’t all need to wear the same dress or even colors. Keep in mind your bridesmaids all have different skin tones and body shapes…so let them choose the colours and styles THEY feel good in…and they will look so much happier and confident in your photos!

The white wedding gown

Speaking of dresses, if you don’t want to marry your best friend in a white dress, don’t! Many of today’s brides are getting married in an array of beautiful colors and styles, so go wild. A standout from my career was our bride who was pregnant at their wedding and her dress was the gender reveal. She was hidden away from everyone and the moment she came around the corner and we saw her beautiful baby pink dress we all found out together than she was having a little baby girl!

Guests sitting on a certain side

Your guests are there to watch you commit to your partner, you’re becoming one family. So, there’s really no need for guests to sit on a particular side of the room during the ceremony. If you have open seating, please have a sign at your ceremony entrance. I often see people very confused and worried about getting in trouble for sitting on the wrong side so clear instructions will put everyone at ease.

The bouquet and garter toss

This is another age-old tradition that many couples love to add to their wedding days, but people are not expecting it. In fact, many guests would prefer to not have to get up to participate in the first place. If you do want to toss a bouquet but don’t want your friends and family in that cringy fight on the dancefloor…here’s a tip for you!

When I get married I just wasn’t into the whole bouquet scene – so I had my florist make me a small bouquet of separate flowers so when I tossed it…it came apart and every woman hoping for her turn got a flower to take home and dream over. No fighting, no drama, no sadness!

Your father escorting you

How you choose to walk down the aisle is entirely up to you. Whether you want to walk down with both your parents, your brother or even by yourself, this decision is yours and yours alone. Many of our brides have both a father and a step-father – I’ve seen many of them have their step-father walk them half way, then their father gets his turn to finish the walk with his daughter. I have seen brides walk with both men. I have seen brides with both parents, siblings, uncles, grandparents…and any one else they feel they want to be the one to get them to the next part of their life. I have no rules about this (yes I get asked if I do!) and I always encourage our brides to do what feels right for them.

In the end, your wedding is about the two of you and while it’s fine to appease family members by incorporating some wedding traditions, you need to do what’s right for you.

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