While many wedding traditions are beautiful, there’s no doubt that a lot of them are steeped in sexism, gender stereotypes, and heteronormative ideologies.
Are you looking to throw tradition out the window and have a wedding that doesn’t scream heteronormativity? How do you do it?
Check out this guide to discover how to overcome heteronormativity on your wedding day.
Watch Out for the “Bridal Bias”
It’s been a long-held belief that the wedding day is “all about the bride”. Not only is this untrue for a lot of weddings, but it can also put an undue burden on the bride to be “perfect” on the big day.
To have a wedding that’s not so heteronormative, we suggest doing away with terms like “bridal party”, “bridal suite”, etc. This language is not only out of date, but it also places the burden of hosting, planning, and all things wedding-related on the bride instead of the groom.
By labeling these items with the term “wedding” instead of “bridal”, you make them more friendly for those having a same sex marriage.
Do Away With the Gender-Separated Events
It’s been a long-held tradition that pre-wedding and wedding-day events need to be separated based on gender. There are separate bachelorette/bachelor parties, bridal showers with just women, and of course, bridesmaids and groomsmen that are separated and chosen based on gender.
If you want to have a wedding party that’s less heteronormative, it’s time to do away with these outdated traditions. Instead, feel free to invite whoever is closest to you to each of these events, regardless of their gender. If you’re a woman and want to have a man in your bridal party, that’s no problem. The same goes for a man who wishes to have a woman in his.
Rethink the Walk Down the Aisle
While there’s nothing wrong with the father of the bride walking the bride down the aisle as the groom awaits her, there’s no doubt that this tradition is very heteronormative.
Plus, it reinforces the idea that the male father is “giving away” his daughter, instead of it being a decision she’s made on her own. To do away with this somewhat problematic tradition, why not have the bride walk herself down the aisle?
Or, another fun thing to do is to have both partners walk down separate aisles, meet in the middle, and then walk down the rest of the aisle together. Also, it doesn’t need to be a father or even a father figure who walks the bride down the aisle. It can be a friend or someone else special.
Are You Ready to Say Goodbye to Heteronormativity?
Now that you’ve read this guide, you’ll be well on your way to doing away with heteronormativity on your wedding day. Not only will this help make your wedding more inclusive, but it’ll also help make it more special and unique for you and your partner.
For more non-traditional wedding day ideas, be sure to check back in with our blog.
