Forget walking down the aisle to “The Wedding March” — a new survey suggests couples are looking to make their wedding as unique as they are themselves.<br /><br />A poll of 2,000 adults in serious relationships, engaged or married, split evenly by generation, revealed 68% feel it is important that their wedding is customized to be unique to them rather than follow tradition.<br /><br />For 45%, that means hosting the ceremony in a place with personal significance.<br /><br />Meanwhile, others agreed that it means ditching the same old tunes and choosing a different song to walk down the aisle (36%), leaving dress code norms behind (29%) and choosing an unconventional theme (18%).<br /><br />One in five millennials would even take it a step further and incorporate a surprise performance by the couple, guests or a professional performer.<br /><br />In fact, more than three-quarters (78%) of respondents feel weddings are more memorable when they reflect the couple’s lives.<br /><br />Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Minted Weddings, the survey revealed that regardless of how the couple chooses to customize their day, some traditions are best left in the past.<br /><br />Customs like not seeing each other before the ceremony (36%) and wearing a white dress (36%) are considered outdated.<br /><br />But that doesn’t mean guests should come in their all-white attire. Almost one in five (19%) Gen-Zers say wearing white is the rudest thing you can do as a guest, whereas only 2% of baby boomers would also take offense. <br /><br />However, the top tradition couples are leaving behind is the bride’s family paying for the wedding (46%). So much so that the majority of respondents say that they and their partner are forking out the big bucks together.<br /><br />Ceremony locations are also seeing a shift. When analyzed by age, respondents who would get married in a house of worship declines with each generation — 39% of baby boomers, 24% of Gen Xers, 18% of millennials and just 13% of Gen Zers. <br /><br />When it comes time to make the big decisions, many couples tend to base their final calls on budget (45%). However, 16% of Gen Zers are likely to make a pros and cons list, more so than any other generation. <br /><br />The survey also found that 63% of married couples encountered at least one surprise mishap on their wedding day or weekend.<br /><br />Most commonly, those surprises included family drama (34%), missing or late guests (32%) and inclement weather (27%).<br /><br />Food mishaps such as “[the] wedding cake toppled over”, and “my mom spilled the punch she had just made” also wreaked havoc on their perfect day.<br /><br />But many couples weren’t letting anything get them down — 48% simply let it go, while 30% handled it themselves. Only 5% of respondents admitted those unexpected turns ruined their big day.
