Are some traditions outdated?

There are many things that are vital to a successful and traditional wedding. However there are some practices that could now be considered tacky or outdated such as a bride walking down the aisle with her father as this used to symbolise the sale of a woman to her husband from her father and creates an allusion that woman are material objects. Although some aspects of a wedding cease to change such as placing the ring on the left hand between the little and middle finger as this is a tradition which is still practiced frequently today.

It was a well known tradition for the father of the bride to pay for the wedding. This was popular until the bride's family began controlling the intimate aspects of the ceremony. This tradition has been replaced as typically couples will fund their own wedding to avoid the stress of satisfying those who are providing their special day.

Another tradition which seems to be leaving the industry is for the happy couple to jet off for their honeymoon straight after tying the knot. Honeymoon's also appear to be becoming closer to home instead of the couple sitting on an 18 hour flight after a long day of celebrations. However, honeymoon's show no signs of being completely removed from the ceremony.

Colour schemes can often be a stressful part of planning a wedding but did you know that it used to be tradition for 2 colours to be used? One colour would be associated with the bride's family and another would be associated with the groom's family. This tradition has not stuck around though as most couples will opt for one colour scheme or choose a palette of different shades for their big day.

Would you prefer a longer all day wedding or a shorter ceremony with a celebratory meal to follow your nuptials? Longer weddings seem to be becoming less popular and a family meal is replacing it to help with both costs and preventing guests from becoming bored if they attend both a day time event and a reception on the evening. Longer weddings also cannot cater for the family and friends with children as they often have to miss out celebrating once they have to take their child home. I personally think that a shorter ceremony followed by a meal can provide a more bespoke wedding than a longer lasting event which breeds boredom.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. We all know the rhyme however fewer brides are actually bothering to find these items before their big day unless they have a particular keepsake which helps make their day complete. I think that traditions are crucial to a wedding whether it is more common or intimate keepsakes that are just special to the happy couple as these keepsakes can often hold great meaning.

Have you ever been to a wedding where the bride and the bridesmaid were not in the same colour scheme? Well the reason for this outdated tradition is a bit peculiar. Brides were often given to their husbands with a large sum of cash and it would therefore be common for brides to be kidnapped which was counteracted by having the bridesmaid and the bride being in the same colour scheme. This tradition seems to be dissolving from the industry as the risk of a bride being kidnapped has decreased greatly.

With summer weddings increasing in popularity many men are opting out of a full suit and instead sporting a waistcoat. Many women are also sporting less traditional dresses as the larger dresses can often be very uncomfortable for the bride to wear due to the longevity of a more traditional ceremony.

The rings are a tradition which show no sign of leaving the industry any time soon however, many couples are opting for more traditional designs lacking in large diamonds due to the impracticality for everyday life.

Can you remember the last wedding you went to that actually played the wedding march whilst the bride walked down the aisle? Many couples are choosing to have a song that has an intimate meaning to them for when they walk down the aisle. The tradition of walking aisle seems to be phasing out due to more same sex weddings happening as it seems unnatural for one person to wait at the end of the aisle whilst the other receives a big entrance walking down the aisle. Instead of having one person have a grand entrance many couples are opting to walk in together.

Weddings used to be very isolating events as the event would often be split into the bride and groom side. However, many people are allowing people to choose where they sit instead of having designated seats for one side of the family which can often make for a very lopsided venue if one side of the family is larger than the other.

Although this may sound odd, many couples are opting to have a celebrant led wedding in which they receive a large scale white wedding where they share their love with family and friends and then have a more intimate ceremony for themselves.

Speeches have remained a tradition in the industry. However the format has altered greatly as it was tradition for the bride's father, the groom and the best man to give a speech. This has changed as a speech from the mum's is becoming increasingly more popular and a speech from the bride is increasing in popularity. This tradition has been scrapped completely from some events.

The first dance is still a popular tradition. However the outdated formation of the happy couple, then dad's, then mum's and then the rest of the guests appears to be leaving weddings as more people would prefer not to dance at all at their wedding.