A wedding can be a beautiful thing. When done correctly, it's a beautiful celebration of love, and the proverbial fusion of two souls into one. At its worst, however, it's money gouging dinosaur of an industry.
This is mainly because they're a lot of outdated and quite frankly superficial traditions that have been carrying on for far too long. Have a look as people discuss which wedding traditions they feel should be retired.
You've got to admit that it's a little morbid. I would much rather say "until the end of time" or even "from now until eternity." It just has a nicer ring to it.
"Apparently[sic] there is a weird tradition that it's bad luck for the bride to walk down the aisle at the rehearsal and some other girl/woman is supposed to walk down and stand with the groom. My wife said "screw that" and walked herself." - Reddit u/wabrown4
Having your parents pay for the wedding inevitably means giving them a say as far as the guest list is concerned. All the more reason to pay for your own wedding at your own expense. Otherwise, be prepared to suffer the consequences.
"Those dresses are always ugly and can never be worn outside the wedding. When I got married, I chose an easy color scheme and told my bride maid and maid of honor to match it with whatever they had. They looked lovely." - Reddit u/oceanbreze
It's a long-held tradition that whenever the guests clink their glasses that the happy couple should kiss. Most venues hate when you do this, as it's almost a guarantee that someone will shatter a champagne flute.
I think we can all agree that potentially breaking your spouse's nose or inadvertently giving them a black eye is not the best way to begin your new life together.
Don't get me wrong, it can be a heartwarming moment to have the parents, Best Man, and Maid of Honor step up to the podium. But beyond that, it's best to keep speeches to a minimum, if any at all.
I've been at plenty of weddings wherein the groom goes underneath his bride's dress in order to remove the garter — but to then put it on another woman? Is this seriously normal?
According to Redditor Miranda_Mandarin, they believe that registries and "wishing wells" are just a fancy form of begging. I'm inclined to disagree.
If you show up to my wedding without a gift, sorry — but you're not coming in.
"Throwing confetti (or rice) at the couple outside the front doors of the church after the ceremony to wish them 'good luck.' The pastor of one church asked those in attendance to 'please throw $20 bills instead to spare the sexton a huge clean-up job'." - Reddit u/Back2Bach
This is a pretty convenient tradition if you happen to be a groom, but if you're a bride — not so much. I think we can all agree that in 2021, both sides can share in the expense.
"Spending tens of thousands of dollars on a stupid ceremony that is nothing but a showboat of gaudy excess and barely anything to do with the relationship." - Reddit u/Bielzabutt
The De Beers diamond campaign of the 1930s is one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time. Not only did the diamond distributor set the standard that all wedding rings needed a diamond — but they also dictated how much a man should spend.
"Being expected to have a dance. I hate dancing I've[sic] never ever liked it (no not even as a child) and basically everyone tells me that ill have fun dancing because it'll[sic] be my wedding day blah blah." - Reddit u/deleted
When you stop to think about it, a wedding is probably one of the dumbest financial decisions that any new couple can make. Why not take that $20,000 - $30,000 (on average) and invest it into a down payment on a house?
What outdated wedding traditions would you like to see be retired? Leave a comment and let us know!
h/t: Reddit
