Millennials have been accused of “killing” a lot of things — macro beer, motorcycles, department stores, diamonds, cars, vacations, and handshakes, to name a few — but what about weddings?
Well, in a sense, millennials are killing those too. At least in the traditional fashion. Millennials are all about customization, saving money, practicality, and doing what makes them the happiest — and if that means departing from the classic church wedding that their parents had, then so be it! Here are a few other things that millennials are incorporating into their special day.
1. Paying For It Themselves
Perhaps the biggest change from the traditional wedding is that most millennials are expecting to fund their wedding themselves. According to the Young Americans and Marriage Survey from May of 2019, 42 percent of millennial couples expect to pay for their entire wedding, and a full 71 percent expect their parents to contribute less than $5,000 to the cost.
2. Bridesmen and Groomswomen
No, that’s not a typo. Sure, most wedding parties are divided by gender — men on one side, women on the other. But that’s not the way that real relationships work, so millennials are shirking that tradition in favor of organizing their wedding party by the people they care about the most.
Lots of women have close male friends and vice versa, not to mention coworkers, classmates, and siblings that they want to share their special moment. Why not include them?
3. Mismatched Bridesmaid Dresses
It’s been a running joke for decades that bridesmaids all wear the same dress — and none of them like it. Rather than forcing their girlfriends to shell out for an expensive, matching dress that they’re never going to wear again, lots of millennial women are instead inviting their bridesmaids to exercise a little more freedom.
Sometimes that means picking a style, like a flowing midi-length dress, and letting them pick their own color and accessories. Sometimes it means picking a color and letting everyone wear that color the way they see fit. Sometimes it just means letting everyone wing it!
Your bridesmaids are all individuals with their own styles — let them show it!
4. Less Expensive Rings
According to the same survey we referenced earlier, the average cost of an engagement ring is right around $5600. However, two-thirds of millennials think that an engagement ring should cost less than $2500 — just under half of the national average.
There are several reasons for this. For one, millennials are famously struggling with student loan debt and housing costs, so spending several months’ rent on a ring doesn’t make much sense. For another, they’d rather spend the money on a vacation or a down payment on a house!
At acredo, we can customize a ring that fits within your budget, no matter what that budget might be. We source our stones responsibly, not in bulk, so we’re not passing huge markups on to you. And every ring is completely custom, which means you can design the perfect ring for your style and your means.
5. #UnnecessarilyComplicatedHashtags
It’s no secret that millennials love their social media, and if there’s ever a time to share a lot of posts and photos, it’s your wedding! One of the best ways to unite everyone’s posts and share them with the people that couldn’t make it is to create a unique wedding hashtag for the big day.
Normally, savvy internet users will tell you not to go overboard with the hashtags. But you know what? You only get one wedding day. Go nuts with it.
6. Evites
Evites are electronic invitations, for those not in the know. If you’ve ever planned a wedding with paper invitations, you’ll know how fast costs can add up. If you want gold foil, embossing, or a piece of tissue paper in each envelope, those little invitations get very expensive.
Besides, everyone is online these days anyway! So in the interest of convenience and cost savings (and, bonus, saving a few trees), millennials are skipping the paper invites altogether. Electronic invitations can contain links to registries, directions, info about lodging and stuff to do near the venue, photo galleries, and much more!
7. Cakes That Aren’t Cakes
Wedding cakes can be crazy expensive and, to be honest, a little boring. If you’ve seen one four-tier white vanilla cake with icing roses on it, you’ve sort of seen them all.
That’s why millennials are going off the beaten path when it comes to dessert. Milk and cookies, towers of cupcakes, cake pops, donuts, ice cream sundae bars, fresh fruit, tableside s’mores — you name it, someone has served it at their wedding.
Make Your Wedding Your Own
Breaking from tradition like this doesn’t just save money, it makes the day more special. This is supposed to be the most special day of your life, so why model it off everyone else’s party? You deserve to have a wedding day that reflects your own individual styles, aesthetics, and preferences — and acredo can help.
To get started on creating your one-of-a-kind ring, get in touch today!