10 Wedding Traditions You Can Ignore – Devon & Cornwall Wedding Photographer
It is Literally YOUR Wedding Day
If you’ve started planning a wedding recently, you’ve probably noticed something.
Everyone has an opinion.
Your mum has opinions.
Your aunt has opinions.
The woman you accidentally made eye contact with in a wedding Facebook group has opinions.
And somehow, they all seem convinced there’s a “correct” way to get married.
The good news?
There isn’t.
One of the biggest wedding planning tips I can give as a Devon & Cornwall wedding photographer is this: if a wedding tradition doesn’t feel right for you, you don’t have to do it.
Honestly, some of the best weddings in Devon & Cornwall I’ve photographed have completely ignored the rulebook.
They’ve skipped traditions, rewritten timelines and focused on creating a wedding day that actually felt like them.
And funnily enough, nobody died.
So if you’re currently planning your wedding and wondering whether you really need to follow every tradition you’ve ever heard of, this one’s for you.
Why Wedding Traditions Are Meant to Be Broken
Before we dive into the list, let’s clear something up.
Wedding traditions aren’t bad.
If you love a tradition, keep it.
If you’ve dreamed about it since you were twelve, absolutely do it.
The problem starts when couples feel pressured into including traditions simply because they’re expected to.
Your wedding day should reflect your relationship, not a checklist somebody invented fifty years ago.
With that in mind, here are ten wedding traditions you can happily ignore.
1. Inviting Everyone You’ve Ever Met
This might be the most common mistake couples make.
Somewhere during wedding planning, guest lists have a habit of multiplying.
Suddenly you’re inviting:
- Your second cousin’s boyfriend
- Someone you worked with six years ago
- A neighbour you’ve spoken to twice
And before you know it, you’re paying for dinner for people you barely know.
One of the best wedding planning tips you’ll ever hear is this:
Invite people who genuinely matter to you.
That’s it.
2. Matching Bridesmaid Dresses
For years, wedding traditions told us every bridesmaid needed to wear exactly the same dress.
Why?
Honestly, nobody seems entirely sure.
People have different body shapes, styles and comfort levels.
Letting your bridesmaids choose dresses they actually feel good in usually results in happier people and better photographs.
Everybody wins.
3. Having a Huge Wedding Cake
This one might be controversial.
If you love cake, fantastic.
Have the cake.
Eat the cake.
Photograph the cake.
However, if you’re spending hundreds of pounds on a cake purely because wedding traditions say you’re supposed to, it might be worth asking yourself why.
I’ve photographed:
- Doughnut walls
- Brownie towers
- Stacks of cookies
- Giant cheese cakes
- No cake at all
Nobody complained.
Well.
Except the people hoping for free cake.
4. Wedding Favours
Let’s have an honest moment.
Most wedding favours get left behind.
There.
I said it.
Not all of them.
Some are lovely.
Some are genuinely useful.
But if you’re currently losing sleep over personalised keyrings, tiny jars of jam or miniature candles, please know that your wedding will survive without them.
5. The Bouquet Toss
The bouquet toss has been around forever.
That doesn’t automatically make it necessary.
If you love it, go for it.
However, if the thought of gathering every unmarried guest into one corner of the room sounds awkward, you can absolutely skip it.
Nobody is going home disappointed because flowers weren’t launched through the air.
6. Speeches That Last Longer Than a Feature Film
Good speeches are brilliant.
Great speeches can be one of the highlights of the entire day.
The keyword there is “good.”
Not “forty-seven minutes long.”
One of the best wedding planning tips I can offer is to keep speeches short, meaningful and personal.
Your guests will thank you.
Silently.
But they’ll thank you.
7. Following a Wedding Timeline Like It’s Military Orders
Some wedding planning advice online makes it sound like you’re organising a moon landing.
You’re not.
You’re throwing a party.
A very important party.
But still a party.
Leave room for things to breathe.
Leave room for conversations.
Leave room for unexpected moments.
Some of the best wedding photographs happen when nobody is paying attention to the timeline.
8. A Traditional First Dance
Let’s be honest.
Not everybody wants to dance in front of a room full of people.
And that’s completely fine.
Some couples love it.
Others would rather do literally anything else.
I’ve seen couples:
- Dance together privately
- Invite everyone straight onto the dance floor
- Skip it completely
The world continued spinning.
9. Wedding Cars
Wedding cars are lovely.
But they’re not essential.
I’ve photographed couples arriving by:
- Tractors
- Horse and carriage
- Their own car
- Walking
The only thing that actually mattered was that they arrived.
10. Doing Things Because Pinterest Told You To
Possibly the most important one on this list.
Pinterest is great.
Instagram is great.
Wedding blogs are great.
But your wedding does not need to look like somebody else’s.
The most memorable weddings I’ve photographed are the ones where couples stopped worrying about what they should do and started focusing on what they wanted to do.
That’s where the magic happens.
Which Wedding Traditions Actually Matter?
This is the funny thing.
The wedding traditions people remember aren’t usually traditions at all.
Years later, nobody talks about the favours.
Nobody talks about whether the bridesmaids matched perfectly.
Nobody talks about the chair covers.
People remember:
- The laughter
- The speeches
- The happy tears
- The dance floor
- The people they spent the day with
That’s the stuff that lasts.
Modern Wedding Planning Tips
If you’re currently planning your wedding, here’s what I’d focus on instead:
- Prioritise the things that genuinely matter to you.
- Stop worrying about pleasing everyone.
- Build a timeline with room to breathe.
- Spend money on the things you’ll actually remember.
- Ignore traditions that don’t feel like you.
Simple.
Not always easy.
But simple.
Final Thoughts on Wedding Traditions You Can Ignore
The truth is, wedding traditions are only worth keeping if they mean something to you.
If they add joy to your day, keep them.
If they make you excited, keep them.
If you’ve always imagined them as part of your wedding, absolutely keep them.
But if you’re only including something because you think you’re supposed to?
Give yourself permission to let it go.
Your wedding should feel like your relationship.
Not somebody else’s.
Planning Your Wedding?
If you’re currently planning your wedding and looking for a Devon & Cornwall wedding photographer, I’d love to hear all about your plans. (I also Travel)
Whether you’re planning a huge celebration, a tiny elopement or something completely unique, my approach is always the same: natural photographs, genuine moments and absolutely no awkward posing marathons.
You can find more wedding planning tips, real weddings and venue inspiration throughout the blog.
Or if you’re ready to chat about your wedding day, get in touch here:
👉 https://alissahoneycaptures.com/contact
I can’t wait to hear your story.
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