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Revised Wedding Customs
25 August 2006
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.
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