We Dare You To Skip These 13 Wedding Must Haves
shave money off your wedding budget and simplify your wedding day experience with these daring decisions.
Lily Brundin Photography
When you start to plan a wedding it can be easy to quickly fall into the trap of feeling like there is one right way to host a wedding.
It’s incredible how quickly the focus can get taken off of what matters most and drawn towards the littlest of details when you actually start to plan a wedding.
And if we’re not careful… details that we don’t really love or even care about at all… can take up valuable space, valuable money, and valuable time.
Today we’re pulling back the curtain on how you can break away from wedding traditions, save $$$, and simplify your modern wedding day experience so that you can focus in on the things that are truly meaningful to you.
Sometimes it’s nice to have permission to not do all the things.
So consider this your permission slip to skip the things you don’t care about and instead enjoy:
More Freedom
More Money
More Energy
More Time
More Joy
By simplifying your wedding and only holding on to what matters to you most.
Skip An Even # Wedding Party
Uneven wedding parties are in. If you love keeping things symmetrical this one might be hard to embrace. However, hear us out. You don’t have to have an even number of people in your wedding party!
If you are having a wedding party (more on that later…) you will have the most fun and feel the most relaxed if you limit the number of people in your wedding party to those who are absolutely essential.
Not only will the decision to have an uneven wedding party simplify logistics, but it will also save you money. The personal flowers, hair, makeup, outfits, shoes, stylists, hotel rooms, bachelorette/bachelor trips, gifts, jewelry, and more add up quickly for the couple getting married and for each wedding party member.
Simplify costs for everyone by keeping your wedding party small.
Skip Bouts & Corsages
Personal flowers add up fast and many modern couples are opting to use that money in their budget elsewhere on something that would mean more to them.
We know boutonnieres and corsages are a traditional wedding item. However, modern weddings no longer require that these former staples be present.
We frequently see weddings with no personal flowers or with a personal flower for only one or two essential people. Believe it or not, couples are skipping boutonnieres and corsages all the time. They are not required and there are tons of weddings at Legacy Hill Farm without them.
Skip Bridesmaid Bouquets
Gasp! This one hurts to say, but in the spirit of showing all the things that can truly be skipped on a wedding day this is one of them.
Many modern weddings are having the wedding party be seated for the ceremony. We’ve seen couples still highlight their wedding party members by having them all wear a unique color palette, but not be required to wear a specific outfit. Often these weddings will skip wedding party flowers.
Skip The Guest Book
Once an essential must have at any wedding ceremony, the importance of a traditional guest book has faded into the past. Consider a more personal modern spin on the traditional guest book by having guests sign:
A Bible
A Dictionary
A Vintage Book
A Travel Book
A Beautiful Coffee Table Book
Skip Appetizers, Snacks, And/Or A Late Night Snack
We know everyone loves food, but with more food options and more food experiences come more logistics, more money, and more stress.
Consider simplifying your delicious menu to where it will create the most impact.
Skip The Receiving Line
Although this one at first glance might look like it won’t save you money…it will save you time…and your time on your wedding day is extremely valuable.
Traditionally following the wedding ceremony, couples would greet their guests one by one in a line and welcome them into the reception.
The intention behind the traditional receiving line was to designate a moment to show gratitude for each guest that came to the wedding.
Modern weddings hardly ever have a receiving line. Instead, couples are choosing to simply spend more time mingling with their guests.
Skip Extra Signage & Programs
As an eco-friendly venue we love finding ways to help our couples cut down on waste. We’ve seen way too many welcome signs, timeline signs, and programs end up in the trash. Consider skipping signage and paper programs that you will not want after the wedding OR decide to print a very limited amount.
If you weigh your options and find that you love the artistic element of wedding day signage consider investing in a custom design suite for your paper and signage needs.
Skip The Bouquet Toss
Modern weddings frequently skip the bouquet toss, garter toss, and other traditional wedding games. If you have a love for one of these traditions embrace it, but if you’ve been waiting for permission to not have to do them - you’ve got it.
Skip Staying Out Til Midnight
Modern couples love to celebrate, but they also love their sleep. Dream weddings do not require that you stay up til midnight. More and more couples are giving themselves permission to schedule a wedding day that is packed full of fun, but also respects their bed time.
Skip The Guests
Couples are frequently keeping their wedding guest lists small.
A small wedding guest list save couples money, time, and logistics.
Prior to covid, weddings frequently were in the 200-295 guest count range at Legacy Hill Farm. Today, we’re frequently seeing guest counts of 150 or less. Many weddings at Legacy Hill Farm are even well under 100 guests. We still can host weddings up to 295 guests on our property. Most couples today choose to hold a more intimate celebration.
Skip The Wedding Party
We’ve already discussed how you can simplify your wedding day by having an uneven wedding party and skipping their flowers, but there is a way to simplify a wedding day even more - skip the wedding party completely.
Many modern couples are choosing to eliminate the hassle of a wedding party and instead opt for a peaceful simplistic wedding experience.
You can still enjoy time with your closest friends and family at your wedding without having them be in an official wedding party. You can even still have a head table filled with people you love… you just don’t have to have a wedding party.
We know this one can feel hard… but we have many weddings at Legacy Hill Farm without a wedding party and it hasn’t diminished those weddings one bit.
In fact, we’ve surprisingly found a simplistic beautiful ease to these days that we didn’t expect to find.
Skip A Flower Girl & Ring Bearer
Modern weddings are frequently skipping flower girls and ring bearers.
There is no right or wrong way to how the modern couple chooses to handle this.
If you have the perfect flower girl(s) and ring bearer(s) and you’ve dreamed about them being part of your wedding ceremony - go for it!
However, we recommend you don’t force it. There is beauty and joy in simplicity.
From investing in a specific outfit that they’ll never wear again… to having to handle the responsibility of this often overwhelming big role… to managing all the emotions… a flower girl and/or ring bearer are not required.
Skip A Friday Or Saturday
Every day of the week can be the perfect day to get married.
One of the biggest ways we see couples save money is by choosing to get married on a Thursday or a Sunday.
You Can Skip X.
Give yourself permission to keep it simple.
With You, For You.
Legacy Hill Farm
