Tradition is important in many parts of life. Maybe your family sings a song every Christmas Eve, maybe your father builds a bird feeder every spring. Traditions can be glorious but they can also be old fashioned. Sometimes you just want to shake off tradition and do what you want. This conflict arises at its greatest at wedding time. Weddings are a place for tradition and a place where you should be allowed to do whatever you want, it is your day after all. So here are 10 wedding rules that you can not break.
Thank you notes
We don’t send thank-you notes for anything else anymore but you must still do it for the wedding or risk being talked about as rude. If you don’t send it, someone will approach you and ask knowingly if you have got their gift yet. They know you have it, take this as your final hint. It is time to say thanks.
Include postage with your invite response cards
If you want people to reply, you better make it easy for them. Not paying for postage is a cheap way to cut corners and should be avoided. If you don’t want to pay for postage then do online invites instead.
Tip everyone
Tip the priest, tip the altar server, tip the florist. For some reason, even in countries where tipping is not a big custom, on the wedding day, everyone must be tipped. This is likely because they have gone above and beyond to make your day special and you need to say thanks in the right way.
Don’t invite anyone who is not invited to pre-wedding parties
You have a hen and invite those who you think would be fun. Wedding day comes around and 8 of those are sitting at a 9 person table with 1 poor soul feeling like she was left out deliberately. If you are going to invite all these people to the main party, they must be invited to the appropriate earlier party.
Feed the vendors
When counting up the catering costs, don’t forget to include those who are on-site because of you but don’t work there usually. The DJ needs to eat too you know.
Text invites are not welcome
Never invite someone to your wedding via text (FB message, Insta message, etc.). It shows they were not on your “main” list and that you are now trying to fill a gap. Rude.
Don’t push the gift list
If you have a registry of gifts you would like, it is ok. Just don’t force it on people. Host it on your website and if people are interested they will find it.
Don’t fall for fads
Your wedding day will be something you remember. So don’t get married in denim because it was all the rage that year. You will look back in horror.
Give people a choice with meals
Not everyone has an open palette. Give people a choice and cater to strange diets.
Look after the parents
It is your special day, but it is a big day for your parents too. They are giving their child away. So take care of them and make sure they are happy throughout the day. It can be an emotional time.