Breaking Wedding Norms: Creating Your Own Rules in 2025

Jenna Riess
Aug 22, 2025
3 min read

The “Butterfly Effect” of Modern Weddings

Weddings in 2025? The only rule is: there are no rules (unless you want them that is!). As a women-owned, LGBTQ+ business with a great love for mixing cultures & backgrounds as well as celebrating individuality, we are insanely passionate about helping couples break free from the “shoulds” and embrace the “wants.”

After all, love is transformative—your wedding should be, too.

How to Find Your Wedding Identity: Real Steps for Real Couples

1. Reflect on Your Relationship Story

Mini Exercise: Together, write down your favorite moments as a couple—big or small. Which ones make you laugh? Which ones make you tear up? These moments are clues to your shared values and what you want to celebrate.
Advice: Build your day around those moments. If you bonded over hiking, maybe a nature-inspired ceremony is for you. If your love language is food, make the meal a centerpiece!

2. Ditch the “Supposed To’s”

Prompt: List 3-5 wedding traditions you think you’re supposed to do. Now, cross out any that don’t feel like “you.” (Yes, you can skip the bouquet toss. Yes, you can have a donut wall instead of cake.)
Advice: Give yourself permission to break away from expectations—family, culture, social media, or otherwise.

3. Center Yourself When Overwhelm Hits

Advice: Wedding planning can get noisy, fast. When you start to feel lost, pause and ask:
- “Does this detail matter to us, or just to someone else?”
- “Will we remember this in five years?”
- “Is this adding joy or just adding stress?”
Pro Tip: Schedule “wedding-free” nights or weekends. No planning talk, no Pinterest, just you two being you.

4. Money Matters: Keep It Real

Dark Humor Break: We totally get the memes about spending your grocery money on wedding decor (who needs to eat when you have a flower arch, right? 😅). But seriously—set a budget that feels good for you, not what you think you should spend.
Advice: Prioritize what matters most, and be honest about what you can let go. The most memorable weddings are the ones where couples felt present and happy—not broke and stressed.

5. Guest List: Quality Over Quantity

Prompt: “Would I invite this person to a random Tuesday dinner at our home?” If not, think twice before adding them to your list.
Advice: Your wedding is an intimate celebration of your relationship. Fill the room with those who fill your cup.

6. Celebrate Your Evolution

Advice: It’s okay for your vision to change. That’s the magic of the metamorphosis! Let your wedding planning journey reflect your growth as a couple—and as individuals.

Types of Weddings to Consider (and Permission to Invent Your Own)

Intimate elopements
Courthouse weddings
Destination celebrations
Backyard bashes
Multi-day cultural fests
Micro-weddings (tiny guest list, big vibes)
Non-traditional venues (art galleries, breweries, mountaintops)
Hybrid events (Zoom grandma in from Italy? Yes, please.)

There’s no wrong way to celebrate your love. The only “right” way is what feels right for you.

Our Best Advice: Stay Present and Ask for Help

We hear it all the time: “I wish we’d spent more time just enjoying the process.” The pressure to please everyone, combined with the Pinterest rabbit hole, can make it hard to stay present.

Our advice?

Take intentional breaks.
Come back to your “why.”
Don’t be afraid to ask for support (from your partner, friends, or, hey, your wedding planners—us!).

That’s where we come in.

We’re here to help you stay grounded, keep your vision front and center, and remind you that your wedding is about you. Planning a wedding is a huge undertaking, and you deserve to feel supported every step of the way.

Ready to break the rules and create your own wedding story?

We’re here for it—and for you. Let’s make wedding magic together. ❤️

P.S. Got a wild idea or a tradition you want to remix? Tell us in the comments or DM us on Instagram—we LOVE hearing your stories!