Wedding Customs Couples are Skipping

When our parents got married, wedding customs were viewed very differently than they are today. It wasn’t really a question whether your mother would have worn a white dress, what song she would have walked down the aisle to or if she would have a tiered wedding cake. For today’s engaged couples, veering off the path of a traditional wedding isn’t that uncommon.

Couples today want their weddings to be meaning to them and aren’t following traditional wedding customs if it doesn’t feel right.  Not including outdated wedding customs actually makes wedding planning simpler and gives couples more time to focus on planning parts of their wedding that they are looking forward to. Below are 5 of the most common wedding customs that couples are skipping.

Photo Credit: Love Tree Studios

1. Wedding Veil

Brides have traditionally been wearing long white veils for as long as we can remember. Today’s bride, however, is more often than not putting her twist on this tradition. Headbands, hair broaches, flower crowns and all different lengths of veils are becoming the norm.

Photo Credit: BinaryFlips Photography

2. Bouquet & Garter Toss

As wedding DJs, we take part in hundreds of wedding receptions each year. We have noticed over the past ten years that the bouquet and garter toss wedding customs are slowly dying. With today’s couples getting married later in life, many wedding guests are already married, which leaves not many guests to participate in the tosses. Couples don’t want to put the spotlight on the small amount of single friends at their weddings.

Photo Credit: J. Kelley Photography

3. Bridal Chorus

Ten years ago the only song you really heard brides walking down the aisle to was Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus.” This isn’t the case today. Our brides have walked down the aisle to songs by The Beatles, Train and Christina Perri.

Photo Credit: Volkel Image

4. Don’t See Each Other Before the Ceremony

This wedding custom dates back to the days when marriages were arranged by the bride’s and groom’s families. Since having a first look photo shoot is becoming ever so popular, couples are choosing to break from superstition and see each other before their wedding ceremony.

Photo Credit: Jose Villa Photographer

5. Brides Wear White

In the mid-1800s the wedding custom of a bride wearing white was born. Since then, this tradition has been pretty set in stone in the U.S., that is until now. Today’s brides are opting to add pops of color to their wedding wardrobe, whether it be a sash, their shoes or hair accessories. Some brides are even choosing to have non-white dresses, which we think will be become even more popular in the next few years.

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