We aren’t ones to judge wedding trends and traditions in this space. Live and let live, we always say, and if there’s a wedding tradition you love or a trend you covet, don’t let anybody tell you not to include it. That said, there are a few trends that even we, staunch wedding-lovers of all shapes and types, feel like should probably be given a rest for a while. Some of them are perfectly lovely trends that have just been gone to so much that they’re played out. Some never should have gotten started in the first place. Either way, we strongly suggest you change your plans if they include any of these three wedding trends.
Burlap
We can, at a rustic wedding, get on board with a tiny scrap or two of burlap. It’s a bold texture. It can look neat tied around a chair, where one might expect a satin ribbon. It’s a good subversion of the norm. But once the burlap started making its way to the wedding dress, we had to throw in the itchy, open-weave towel. Using burlap as a wedding sash or as fabric for tablecloths? Come on everyone, burlap is the least comfortable fabric. It’s for storing potatoes and making cat scratcher toys. You don’t have to get married in silk, but for god’s sake let’s stop before we end up with entire bridal gowns made of the stuff.
Mason Jars
The age of Pinterest ushered in an age of mason jars. At first, we embraced them. So rustic, we said, so simple and gorgeous. You filled them with flowers. You filled them with candles. You filled them with string lights. You hung them on the backs of your wedding seating with little sprigs of herbs in them. You served your wedding cocktails out of them. You even used them in your centerpieces as vases for flowers or to display your wedding sparklers with little instruction cards. And we celebrated you each step of the way. But after years of this, we start to be reminded that mason jars are actually for storing food. Remember storing food? So maybe give the mason jars a break for your wedding, and after the wedding buy some mason jars and do some canning, just like grandma used to do.
Super low back dresses
The first few brides who showed up with a dress open to their tailbone, we thought it was daring and exciting. The more we saw the trend take hold, the less sure we were that it was entirely 100% appropriate. Now, we’re not prudes, and if a bride wants to flaunt a little skin on her wedding day, that’s entirely her business. But do imagine sitting down with your children one day, looking through your wedding album and having to say, “This is mommy in her wedding dress. Isn’t it pretty? And that’s the top of mommy’s crack! Mommy had trouble keeping her dress up over her butt during the ceremony.” These way low-backed dresses are hard to move in and keep your dignity intact. So if you must go for one, make sure and have something to change into for the reception.
Of course, as strongly as we may be opposed to these three trends, we believe in the right of the wedding couple to do whatever pleases them. So if you must do one, why not embrace it and do all three? Go for a mason jar tied around the bride’s waist with a burlap ribbon, resting on the bare skin where the rest of her dress should be. Gorgeous!