Yahoo Lifestyle "Your Guests Are Not Part Of The Decor": People Are Sharing The Wildest Wedding "Requirements" Of 2024
It's no secret that wedding culture has gotten wayyy out of control.
So, we recently asked the BuzzFeed Community about the wildest wedding "requirements" they saw in 2024. Here's what they said:
We also included responses from across Reddit.
1."When my niece got married, we all got a little color dress code on the back. All sage, light blue, and dusky pink. Safe to say most people, including me, totally ignored it. Especially the mother-in-laws and the grannies, LOL. Enough is enough. We are humans, not tablecloths."
2."My friend was getting married in April 2024. She asked me to be a bridesmaid; I have known her since college. She made all five bridesmaids and her MOH a binder of our duties. One of the biggest issues: our required look. 'Full head of hair. No shaved sides or back. Must have a wig professionally put on if haircut is not acceptable. No eyeglasses, get contacts or go without for the day. No brown eyes. That's my fiancé and my eye color, so you will need to get contacts. Blue is required.'"
"The final kick in the pants was the contract — 14 pages front and back of everything we were required to do, like not getting pregnant, attending meetings and events, constantly communicating, etc. We needed to take constant pictures so someone could make photo albums of everything. Each person needed to plan an event that was not at their house. Food and drinks needed to be served. We also needed to follow the gift requirements for each event. I tried to explain I couldn't afford this, and she told me I had to figure it out.
I did not do the wedding. She was mad, but I don't care."
3."Tattoos must be covered and facial piercings removed. No fantasy (non-natural) hair colors."
4."Having guests pay to go to destination weddings. This year, I was invited to a family member’s wedding in Cabo San Lucas. In order to attend the wedding ceremony, guests had to pay $10K to stay at the hotel where the couple was getting married. It’s downright rude because not everyone has that kind of money. The couple has no regard for others."
—Anonymous
5."Rings with a stone larger than the bride's must be removed."
6."The couple wanted each guest to pay $150 to cover their cost of food. I understand that weddings are really expensive nowadays, but paying for your own food?! No thanks. The couple should just elope at that point."
—Anonymous
7."No Apple Watches. As someone who uses mine to manage a serious health condition, this isn’t an option for me."
8."A friend invited me to her wedding shower; I was excited for her! I asked my friend's mom what day the wedding would be. She told me the date but said the wedding is just for immediate family. To celebrate with everyone, there will be a shower, and she requested everyone bring non-perishable foods to stock their pantry and other things for the house."
"I really did respect that it was immediate family at the wedding. The shower was nice! Then, I started getting questions from mutual friends who had attended the shower asking if I would be at the wedding as well. No. I hadn't been invited and was told it was for immediate family. I felt so used."
9."Honestly, all of the requirements brides expect of their wedding party at this point are ridiculous. I was in a wedding this year, and it will be the last time I will ever agree to be a bridesmaid. I’ve been a bridesmaid three times. Each time, I asked the bride if it would require a ton of time and money. Each time, they said no. I think initially they meant that, but the more they planned and scrolled on Pinterest and TikTok, the more extravagant everything had to be."
"Each wedding turned into waking up at 7 a.m. to set up an entire banquet hall full of decor, followed by 4–5 hours of everyone getting professional makeup caked on their face and curling their hair, followed by another 1–2 hours of pictures, a 30-minute ceremony, then a 4–5 hour long reception, followed by 1–2 hours of cleaning up the reception hall.
And don’t get me started on how elaborate and time-consuming the themed bachelorette trips and bridal showers had to be. It’s all wild at this point, and I couldn’t imagine asking any of my friends to sacrifice that much time and money for my vanity."
10."No bright colors. People should be free to wear what they want that falls within the dress code. Your guests are not part of the decor. The bride doesn't get to prescribe colors for anyone other than the wedding party."
11."When the couple says you can only post photos online with their specific hashtag."
—Anonymous
12."I saw one list of rules all over social media because it said no sitting for the whole night. In the comments, people pointed out that the grandparents would probably like to rest. But even as someone in my thirties, I'd want to sit down for part of the night, too! Did the couple not provide a sit-down dinner? Did they just want people to show up and dance all night? Rude."
—Anonymous
13.And finally, "Our friends threw an engagement party and had, like, 100 people. They requested cash as engagement gifts, which is wild to me. It’s an engagement, so to request money just seems like a cash grab — plus it’s double dipping because they requested cash for their wedding. The idea was to use the engagement cash to cover wedding costs, and then most people weren’t even invited to the wedding."
What's the wildest wedding "requirement" you've seen? Share in the comments below or in this anonymous Google form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
