Top Ten Wedding ‘must haves’ you can do without
Posted by admin on Aug 25, 2009 in Alternative Wedding, Skully chat | 6 commentsThe Wedding Times be tough, so the industry works in overdrive, and we get suckered in. Those GORGEOUS pictures splashed across every bridal magazine and wedding blog really convince us we’re not doing it properly if we don’t have all of those exquisite details planned – down to the last monogrammed napkin.
And – I’ll admit – it’s fun. It’s almost too much fun. It’s like decorating a dolls house. You get caught up in the fantasy and the ‘omigod how epic is that!’ feelings, and before you know if you’ve sped $500 on chocolate wedding favors and you’re eating baked beans for a month.
So for your reading and purse-string pleasure, I present Wedding Skulls’ Top Ten List of Wedding ‘Must Have’s’ You Can Do Without’.
- favors
- garter
- centrepieces
- registry pen
- Save-The-Date cards
- reply cards
- button holes and corsages
- monogrammed socks
- wedding website
- toasting champagne/wine
I’m not trying to say ‘don’t have these things’, especially if they represent something you feel is important or fun. All I want to say is that all of the above items don’t weigh on either the success of your wedding day OR the success of your marriage. They’re optional extras – and can be expensive ones at that.
Agree? Disagree? Onward and discuss!
my boyfriend gets too caught up in the barbie doll aspect of wedding life too. He seems to think that we need every tiny little thing, and if we dont have it, we wont have a good wedding. I think i am going to make him start reading your blog.
Agreed! Especially given how stressful I’m finding centerpieces to be right now… in fact, they are what have kept me to anxious to sleep yet this evening.
SO. DUMB.
I think I’m lucky in that I’m not girly AT ALL. So when we started planning, I tore through bridal magazines saying, “This is dumb, that’s tacky, that’s a waste of money… MUST-HAVE monogrammed socks?! Who BUYS this stuff!” No offense to those who do buy monogrammed socks, of course
My mom got on my case with “You’ll want this and this oh and you HAVE to have this…” So I said, “If you can give me a good reason other than ‘everybody else does it,’ I will seriously consider the item/service/whatever.” We nixed a LOT of things this way XD … Although I do seem to be taken by monogrammed black napkins, not sure where THAT urge is coming from :/
Monogrammed socks? Unless the groom is wearing shorts, why would those ever be considered a must-have? Favors, on the other hand, serve the purpose of thanking your guests for celebrating your wedding with you. To be honest, NOTHING in your wedding except the officiant, the vows and a marriage license weighs on either the success of your wedding day OR the success of your marriage. I had an incredibly successful wedding with just three people–one of whom was the judge.) Many wedding favor designs can easily fit within your budget (some are under a buck each,) and with that, you’ve thanked your guests and given them something to remind them of the day, which is worth the small price.
..Monogrammed SOCKS? For crying out loud..
I plan to do all the rest of those, however. I do artwork, myself, so I’ll just whip up a quick design and shell out a few bucks for cardstock to do a home printing job.
And the favors and the rest? I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m planning on getting most of my ‘must needs’ at Dollar Tree and thrift stores. What I can’t find, I’ll just make myself for cheaper.
My wedding is coming up in October and I love your blog. While our wedding doesn’t have a theme (gothic, punk, etc), we are definitely not following the norm and every day I have to deal with people who are uncomfortable with us excluding certain things. This week I’ve had to explain why I’m not going to get a tattoo cover up kit, corsages, veil, white aisle runner, crystal dishes, and garter. Unfortunately, I think my mom is still in tears about the corsage and I’ll probably just get her one in the end…
We could each come up with our top ten that we could do without… and each time a mom or sister or girlfriend cries that you HAVE TO have it, stick to your guns, ladies. In the end this day is truly supposed to be about us and what we want.
However, regarding the favors, we’re the DIY types and we’ll be making some homemade strawberry jam to ‘spread the love’ with our guests. And our centerpieces are going to be fall flowers in white gourds, which look awesome. But flowers and being crafty are two of my favorite things so those worked for me.