Four wedding traditions that are slowly becoming outdated

Numerous wedding traditions—from diamond rings to church ceremonies—have been around for centuries. However, as some of these rituals becomes less relevant as time goes on, they’re being adapted for the modern age. Read on to find out which traditions are becoming outdated, and how exactly they’re being altered.

Goodbye church weddings 

Think of a wedding and one of the first images that pops into your mind will be a church. Weddings and churches are intrinsically linked, with the religious basis of marriage previously rendering churches a prerequisite to wedding ceremonies. Until the Marriage Act of 1994 was introduced, only 3% of weddings took place outside of a church, as English law previously precluded weddings from taking place in most other venues. However, following the introduction of the act, as well as the increasing secularisation of society in general, there has been a huge decline in church weddings.

According to research by Confetti, less than a third of people in the UK now get married in churches, with more couples deciding to tie the knot in alternative locations. As well as more run-of-the-mill venues like hotels, country homes and even pubs, the change in the law has given couples the licence to get married in some truly weird and wonderful places. Cley Windmill in Norfolk is a popular place to tie the knot, as is the Nash Point Lighthouse in South Wales, and wedding planners Snapdragon even transformed a derelict factory into a luxury wedding venue.

The women of the wedding party are getting a say

One of the most eagerly anticipated traditions of a wedding day is the speeches. They give an opportunity for heartfelt stories about the couple to be shared, enable guests to be thanked for attending, and give the best man a chance to make the groom squirm in his seat by telling choice stories from his past.

But this tradition has always excluded the women of the wedding, namely the bride. Traditionally, wedding speeches are exclusively the domain of the father of the bride, the groom and the best man, making this a very male-centric ritual. However, more and more brides are joining in the fun these days; according to Hitched, over one in five brides said that they planned to break with tradition by giving a speech at their wedding. This modernisation of the wedding speeches tradition could not have been exhibited more prominently than by the new Duchess of Sussex herself, Meghan Markle. The newlywed royal bride took to the stage during her wedding reception to give a speech thanking the royal family for accepting her so easily. The prominence of her actions will no doubt inspire more future brides to do the same.

No longer a nice day for a white wedding

Many brides are also deciding to ditch the near two-century-old tradition of wearing a white wedding dress. With the religious connotations of white dresses— like purity and virginity—becoming less pertinent, and the desire for more affordable, comfortable and functional formalwear, the landscape for female wedding attire has changed considerably. Rather than spending an arm and a leg on a dress that they’ll never wear again, brides-to-be are instead opting for more versatile options, something that is apparent by the rise of wedding wear like skirts and tops being sold by retailers.

Celebrities have led the way, with Emily Ratajkowski’s mustard wedding suit, Angelina Jolie’s tulle train embroidered with her children’s drawings, and Solange’s jumpsuit all examples of famous brides bucking the trend. Flamboyant multi-coloured dresses are all the rage, while John Lewis named Jumpsuits as one of their key wedding trends of 2018. Their site had 8,715 searches for white jumpsuits between January and May this year, four times the amount in the same period in 2017. 

Diamonds aren’t forever

Like white wedding dresses, there has been a long association between weddings and diamonds, and many spouses-to-be decide to opt for a diamond engagement ring. The tradition stems from various advertising campaigns by De Beers from the early 1900’s onwards; with their now-renowned slogan, “A Diamond is Forever”, the company’s campaigns implanted in many people’s minds the idea of marriage being forever. This cemented diamonds as the must-have type of engagement ring for decades. Nowadays more couples are breaking from tradition. Stones of emerald, sapphire, ruby and other materials are becoming just as—if not more—popular, and can be just as dazzling and eye-catching as diamond.

The editorial unit