Do You Have a Non-traditional Aspect Of Your Wedding?

I am definitely not a traditional type of person, and will not be a traditional bride with a traditional wedding. I will actually be having a man stand with me as well - rather than a maid of honor, I will be having a man of honor. My man of honor is not only my best friend in the world, but also my ex boyfriend who I lived with for 5 years! FH loves him and our friendship together & supports him standing with me 100%.
Other non-traditional items: we will be having a DW, I will not be wearing white (or any version of white), I will be wearing non traditional shoes, there will be no dress code for guests (just come how you feel comfortable, whether that’s a bikini, ballgown, ripped jeans & slayer shirt, a 3 piece suit... whatever you want!), we will be having a non-traditional theme, music, and entertainment for our guests. We will not be doing the traditional reception events either: no toasts, cutting the cake together, spotlight dances, or tossing the bouquet/garter belt. I have never been a fan of traditional, predictable weddings, so it was important for me to have a wedding that reflects who WE are... not just a cookie cutter wedding.

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Awesome! There are some traditions I do enjoy and want to recognize...for example, we're African American so jumping the broom will be a literal thing we do, LOL. My mother wants me to wear her gown which I'm having altered to fit me and customized slightly to fit my personality.

However, another non-traditional thing is having both my father and my 11yr old walk me down the aisle.

There are some traditions my FH wants to acknowledge and well...I figured since he's also getting married, lol.....i guess he can do a lil somethin' somethin' as well. LOL Other than that, I'm really hoping for a beautifully romantic beachside wedding that reflects our love.

Happy Wedding Planning!

I love that your brother will have such an important role in your wedding! We are eloping, no guests, and a couple of traditional Irish symbols. Btw congrats on escaping a narcissist!!!! Been there, it's hell on earth.

View Quoted Comment Awww I love that both the men in your life are walking you down the aisle! That is going to be so sweet. Those pictures will be priceless ❤️
I hear ya on compromising with the spouses. My FH really wanted to honor the tradition of not seeing each other before the wedding. So we will be staying in seperate hotel rooms the night before, and The first time we will see each other will be when I am walking down the aisle to him. He was so adamant about wanting to honor that tradition, I just had to let him – despite the fact it is wreaking havoc on my photography/videography schedule 😠 LOL

My brother is also my man of honor! My dress is not white (or ivory, champagne, moscato, or anything resembling white). My bridesmaids are in white, we're having a penguin party (black and white...sadly there are no literal penguins), almost all of the music is from the 90s (rock, alt, hip hop) and we're omitting the bouquet/garter toss. Karaoke after party at the hotel. Oh! It's in a library.


Yayyyy! 9 days away!

We aren't doing a Cake, garter toss, or bouquet toss. We are spending the night together before the wedding. We are using non-traditional music for ceremony. We aren't doing anything huge and drastically non-traditional. We just made sure any traditions we are doing have meaning to us.

I love that we are making our weddings “actually our weddings”. Both my parents are walking me down the aisle and his sister is his “best man”. I’ve gotten looks on that but she is his best friend so why not! I’m also doing a private ceremony and a larger after party two weeks later. I just can not wait.

Oh lort, does the word "non traditional" describe this wedding in a nutshell. Comparing it to weddings of my family going back two generations, three if you include my Gen X cousins' weddings since my grandparents and dad are all technically Boomers. (Mom missed boomer by one year. Shes the oldest of the X's! Grandparents are all oldest possible boomers)


-Not at a church (shocker to my grandma, which in turn,shocked me bc shes not super religious)-No one is giving me away-No "here comes the bride"-No veil-Mismatched bridesmaid dresses, mismatched everything-My attire is very bridal, but also VERY boho -Food isnt going to be formal at all, kind of due to limited vendors in area mixed with food allergies. (Everywhere in range of our venue is seafood bc Maine, FMIL is allergic and it triggers FH's gout)-Probably not going to do a toast, but Im starting to get FOMO the more I see others post their glasses lmao-Pets are allowed in my venue.. I might bring my cats? -Obnoxious bridal bouquet; no throw-Oreo cheesecake baked by us as our cake; no smash-Guest book is gonna be Polaroids-The fact that Im older than my cousins, parents, and grandparents when they got married. That said, at this point in our lives, we dont have kids either. -Really trying to not have sterotypical wedding classics played at reception. I feel like theyre more fitting for cocktail hr playlist-Animal bones on our sweetheart table (we love creepy stuff. we also hike a lot and think found bones are the coolest; its one of the ways our weirdness gets along with each other)-Hardcore eco friendliness-Not buying into wedding tax/ industry standards. Its a slowly dying industry and I think they know that and are trying to turn it around before its too late/ millenials or Gen Z finish the job. (Ive been researching this, very interesting tbh) -No forced dances/ father daughter/ mother son

My 8 year old will be giving me away. my FH will be saying vows to my children as well as me... we both have a maid of honor and a best man... my wedding will have no flowers or candles for centerpieces.and our meal is pot luck made by family and friends

I had a bridesman. I walked myself down the aisle. I skipped all parent dances

I have a "Man-tron of Honor" and a Maid of Honor.

But most things are pretty traditional. Which is odd, cause I'm not very traditional.

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What are you wearing? What kind of shoes?

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I'm walking myself down the aisle too. Both are parents are not in our lives, so we're not doing dances.

Ours is basically a laid back summer cook out. No forced dancing, not tosses, no speeches, self catering, non traditional bridal party( 2 MoH and an adult flower girl), no pro hair-just a messy bun, no DJ-live band putting on a show and homemade playlists between sets, board games, yard games, card games...a pretty epically chill event-totally fitting our style

View Quoted Comment Both my bridesmaids and I are wearing footless sandals 😀

I love that you're having your brother as your Man of Honor, Patrice I really like it when people play with traditions to make their wedding uniquely their own. Good for you

I think that's great! Whatever will be most meaningful and memorable to you and your FH is what matters! I won't even be having a wedding party at all. I will have a "maid of honor" so to speak, but she will be doing a reading during the ceremony, but not standing with us. Sounds like you've been through a lot, so you should have everything you want this time around

Ummm i guess mine would be having two Matron of Honors. and my BM was the one that stood next to me during the ceremony. she is my step daughter

Our daughter will be walking me down the aisle and we will not be using any of the traditional vows. Our ceremony will be very short as we are not doing a unity candle or prayer.

No parent dances (my father has passed and FH is not dancing with his mom as a choice)- FMIL will not be happy when she finds this out.

No garter or bouquet toss

We are having immediate family only (parents, siblings, grandparents, and one set of aunt/uncle each). For this reason we have no bridal party, no DJ/dancing, or any of the traditional reception festivities, aside from having dinner. We had planned to just elope, but it was really important to our immediate family members that they were there, so we compromised.