Five Traditions We Aren’t Including on Our Wedding Day

The blog post that everyone has been waiting for… just kidding, just the ones that voted on my Instagram poll (lol.) If you somehow stumbled upon my blog, welcome! I am a 2022 bride-to-be (hopefully no postponing) and I get to marry my best friend in just a little over a year. 

For our wedding, we have decided on some traditional things that we do not want to be a part of our big day and to replace them with different aspects that are more aligned with our values.

Disclaimer: Just because we do not want to include these on our special day doesn’t mean that I hate them. If you choose to do some things that I don’t, that’s awesome! If you don’t agree with me either, that’s awesome too. This blog is not to throw shade on anyone or anything. So let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

Religious Ceremony

This is one of the most important aspects that we are not going to include in our ceremony. Nolan and I are not going to have any verses or prayers said during the ceremony. We know that this probably isn’t going to go over well with both of our families, but this is something that is super important to both of us. Instead of prayers or verses, we will be having our officiant talk about our relationship and how we got there. We may even be incorporating a poem or something else that accurately represents our commitment to one another. We decided to make this decision based on both of our beliefs, and we ask those that are attending our wedding to respect our decision. And yes, that is a photo of our ceremony area!!!

Garter & Bouquet Toss

I have never understood the point of this tradition. It literally doesn’t make sense to me. People spend so much time and money on flowers just for them to be tossed and sometimes destroyed in the bouquet toss. As for the garter removal & toss, I just can’t think of any reason I want to have this on display during the reception. The thought of my dad watching Nolan go up my dress makes my skin crawl. I just find the whole thing kind of creepy. So instead of this tradition, we will be incoporating the ‘The Shoe Game’ where a series of questions are asked and we decide who better fits the question. If you have never seen this at a wedding, check out a video here. This game is hilarious and it’s so fun to watch.

Cake

The only reason that we are having a cake at our wedding is that it’s included in the package we selected from the venue. We will have a small, simple cake on display during the reception but we will also have a selection of different desserts for our guests. If it is was up to Nolan, we’d have a donut wall. If it was up to me, we’d have sprinkles cupcakes catered to our venue. So we’re still deciding on what exactly we want, but we know it’s going to be more than just cake. Any suggestions are welcome, the more unique the better!

Guest Book

As I reflected on the few weddings I have been to, I can’t recall a time that I actually wrote something in a guest book (other than my name). If you have, you’re a waaaaay better person than I am. With that being said, we decided on doing a different take on the traditional paper and pen guest book. We are going to have a guest phone. Yes, you read that right! A PHONE! Instead of writing a message, guests will be able to leave us a message on a phone in a voicemail style message. When the day is over, we will be able to take the messages that people have left us and put them on a vinyl record. This way we can hear the voices of our loved ones, even when they are no longer with us. Check out the company here. 

Programs

In an effort to make our wedding more sustainable, we won’t be handing out programs to our guests. When researching weddings, I found that most of the time, programs just get thrown away. Instead of a traditional paper program that is handed out at the ceremony, I’ll be making a sign that has all of the same information on it with my Cricut. We know that some do like to keep programs for sentimental reasons, so we are going to make *functional* favors that our guests will be able to take home with them. I don’t want to go into too many details about our favors, because I do want them to be a surprise.

If you hate these ideas or love them, let me know in a comment below. I know that some people are not going to agree with our choices, but that’s okay. Stay tuned for the next wedding update.