Opting out of a few Traditions...

@Leslie G - FH means "Future Husband" (I'm guessing. I also have never seen that acronym before). I have NO idea what STD stands for, but I'm assuming it's not what it "normally" stands for.

It's refreshing to hear that so many people are passing on those tedious things called 'traditions' that, when we ourselves go to a wedding, we dread taking part in. THAT is what we based OUR planning on, None. absolutely NONE of the things we hated.

So, no...

Unity candle, or that sand thing (which looks weird and will eventually get knocked over and messed up anyways)

No receiving line (I think that was the first to go)

No church, instead a nice circle of trees on the receptions site

Definitely no garter or bouquet toss (everyone always looks SO uncomfortable during all that!)

No 'favors', but doing a decadent chocolate assortment 'bar' and letting people pack up just the goodies they like into little favor boxes. The rest we take home! Yummy...

No rehearsal dinner- instead, a bbq.

We think our best choice was not having MOH, BM etc.. but we did each have 4 people that we HAD to have part of our day. They were 'titled' Besties. No one was singled out as better then the other.

We are lighting a memory candle for his Mom. We're having the ceremony in a hotel, with the reception being in the same room - so seating for the ceremony will be interesting. No something old, new, etc., no throwing the bouquet, no garter. We wrote our own vows and I designed the ceremony. Rehearsal dinner will be cooked by the guys at the house we're renting. Parents NOT INVOLVED! Early afternoon wedding with the (lunch)reception being over by dinnertime. No band or dj, we're compiling a list of songs and a friend will make the disks and Ipod list. My daughter (and possibly my granddaughter) will walk us down the aisle.

It is very refreshing to see we are not alone in cutting out a lot of things, I will say though we ARE doing the sand ceremony and im toying with the guest tree. I think these are both lovely things and my FH's daughter can be more involved in the ceremony this way

Doing cupcakes instead of the cake, and a DIY taco bar instead of catering.

Sky Lanterns as a favors, they can send their own wishes into the sky as well as ones for us!(wedding is on a lake, so just need to figure out how to do this as a group)

No bouquet/garter toss, not many single people!

Found a string orchestra version of our song to walk to for the ceremony, think that will be the only song played.

Our ceremony will be traditionally faith-based, but here are a couple of glimpses into our day of what we're opting out of and what we are doing:

Tossing: We are NOT doing the bouquet/garter toss. I have been in and at so many weddings and that is my least favorite part of the whole thing so why would I subject my guests to that? We also didn't do formal engagement photos... my mom took the pictures with my camera and we used those pics for our STDs. *Lots o' compliments.*

Embracing: We are doing the God's Knot at the reception, as we are not allowed to do it at the ceremony venue. *Don't ask* As my parents are the only living members in the category of parents/grandparents, my oldest aunt and FH's oldest brother are part of the processional and are placing a rose on each side's memorial pedestal adorned with pictures of our loved ones. Our silver frame favors are doubling as escort card holders. We are doing both bubbles and bells for the bride/groom exit.

STD = Save the Date. FH is future husband.

My FH and I definitely feel a pull away from tradition both for a matter of being unique and to save a little money. We are not getting married in a church, we'll be in a loft space for the ceremony and reception. We built our ceremony and my FH and I are not particularly religious so we opted for a more secular ceremony with one scripture reading to appease our families. We are not doing a unity candle, instead we are doing a stone ceremony which will allow us to involve all of our guests. We are trying to stress that our lives have been touched by everyone. I have 2 BMs, my two sisters but I also have one really involved BM and my sisters welcome her opinions so the MOH line is a little blurry and that's just fine. Planning on BM dresses being same color, different styles to reflect their individuality. Looking for alternatives to bouquets. I like felt flower bouquets from etsy.com but they're a little on the pricey side. Open to any alternative ideas you ladies can come up with .

All of our ceremony music is by Dave Matthews Band because we are such big fans and has more meaning to us than any traditional music. We are also doing hors d'eouvres instead of a sit down sinner because we are getting married on a friday night after dinnertime. We are not doing favors for the same reason everyone else has stated. We are both practical people and don't like waste so we don't want to shell out money for something no one wants. My FH really wants to do the garter and bouquet toss, but I'm kind of an introvert so it's kinda unnerving for me. Neither of us like to dance, but we are providing a DJ for our guests to enjoy. We'll chime in for slow dances, we are still doing the first dance and also the generations dance. We are taking pictures before the wedding and all of us are waiting in a back room to come out for the ceremony so we will be seeing each other before the ceremony.