They
say that in this ever evolving world, nothing is permanent
but change.
Apparently, this is even true when it comes to wedding etiquette and traditions.
The past few years have seen changes in accepted wedding etiquette
and customs. What could be totally unacceptable when your
mother and father were married 30 years ago may be the norm
today. Here are some traditional wedding etiquette and customs
and their revisions to keep you updated:
-
Weddings
are paid for only by the bride’s/groom’s family.
Traditional wedding customs dictate that wedding expenses
be shouldered strictly by one party. In Western countries,
the bride’s family pays while in the Philippines,
the groom and his family take care of the wedding costs.
Today, it is perfectly acceptable if one family pays instead
of the other or, because of the rising costs, the two
families share in the expenses.
- The best and most appropriate wedding gifts are household appliances
and linen.
Today, wedding gifts need not be limited to household
items with practical uses. Any gift that has been given
a lot of thought is acceptable and would surely be appreciated.
Besides, do couples really need three toasters, 4 pressure
cookers and 12 dozen sets of plates?
-
Guests
should not wear white or black to the wedding.
Traditionally,
wedding etiquette dictates that guests should not dress
in these two colors because black is closely associated
with death and the white is “reserved” for
the bride.
Today, however, wearing something in those colors are
allowed and accepted so long as it isn’t a long
white dress (to avoid attention veering away from the
bride) or clothes that make you look like you are about
to go to a funeral.
-
The
bridal bouquet should made of white, or at least lightly-colored,
flowers.
The bridal bouquet, according to traditional wedding etiquette,
must consist of white flowers. Today, brides can choose
the most colorful and vibrant of flowers to match their
wedding’s motif without their grandmothers raising
their eyebrows disapprovingly.
-
The
wedding entourage should consist of six bridesmaids and
six groomsmen.
Today, there are no restrictions imposed on how many little bridesmaids
and groomsmen you have in your entourage (the number of
bridesmaids and groomsmen don’t even have to match.)
How many bridesmaids and groomsmen you have should depend
on how big your wedding is. One word of advice though:
because groomsmen also serve as ushers in your wedding,
then the number of your groomsmen must be proportionate
to the number of your guests. The general rule is, there
should be a one groomsman for every 50 guests.
-
The
mother of the groom must wait until she has been notified
by the bride’s mother of what she’ll wear.
Customary wedding etiquette dictates that the groom’s
mother must wait until the bride’s mother has informed
her of what she’ll be wearing so that she would
be able to buy a complementary dress. Today, the mothers
no longer need to coordinate what they will wear. For
the groom’s mom, the only thing she has to consider
now when buying a dress for the wedding is whether or
the dress looks good on her.
