My Unpopular Wedding Opinion Is…

Non-essential wedding details are fun to plan but completely unnecessary.

What’s considered a non-essential detail? Some would say anything outside of a location, marriage license and a legally ordained officiant are considered non-essentials. While I’m not to that extreme and believe food and décor at varying levels should be considered essentials, there are a ton of smaller details that are fun to consider but not necessary. Some of these items include:

Ceremony Programs

Unless you have cultural or religious traditions that are unfamiliar to guests, ceremony programs are not necessary.

Wedding Favors

Unless it’s food (and even then it can go to waste), wedding favors—no matter how cute you think they are—are usually left behind in large quantities by guests. For whatever reason, a lot of favors are forgotten and that is a waste of money.  

Menu Cards

Unless you’re doing an unconventional meal like a cocktail-style reception that has several courses, guests will have an idea of the meal options when they receive your invitation and send back the RSVP card, so menus are not required.  

Removing these items from your wedding planning tasks not only make for a less stress wedding planning process but can help you save money to use on some details you may forget about. What are those things you might forget about?

Vendor Gratuities

Tips are often overlooked when thinking about the wedding budget. Although gratuities are optional, some vendors will expect it. Whether it’s expected or not, you should consider tipping your vendors if they did a great job on your wedding day because it’s appreciated when they go above and beyond.

Vendor Meals

It’s easy to forget about vendor meals if a wedding planner isn’t involved since most couples are thinking about their guests’ meals, but many vendors will require a meal in their contracts. Even if they don’t, it’s a nice to feed vendors who are working several hours of your wedding day, especially the reception.  

Invitation Postage

Size and weight of your invitations will affect the postage charge, so don’t assume a forever stamp will be enough to mail out your invitations.

Dress Alterations

After your dress arrives, someone will need to alter it so it fits perfectly. And even if it fits perfectly right off the bat (lucky you!), you’ll need a seamstress if you want anything added to it like more bead work or ties so you can bustle it.

Remember to prioritize your wedding details and keep in mind that not all details carry the same significance. Some are important than others and some can be eliminated completely!

Thursday, September 30, 2021


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