The 8 Rudest Things You Can Do At Someone's Wedding, According To Baby Boomers
Boomers reveal what they consider the rudest wedding behavior from guests.
irinabdw | Shutterstock Baby Boomers have been around the wedding circuit for a while. Some Boomers may have started as toddling ring bearers, advanced to bridesmaids or groomsmen, eventually graduated to being the bride or groom, and then sat in the front row to watch their children walk the aisle.
Baby Boomers have seen more than their fair share of weddings, so in kind, they have also seen some of the worst and rudest behavior take place. Some people might roll their eyes at a lot of Boomer's advice, but when it comes to being rude at weddings, we should all pay attention to them.
Here are the rudest things you can do at someone's wedding, according to Baby Boomers:
1. Drinking too much and behaving obscenely
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Each of the couples knows their entire wedding party is being evaluated and judged by the other family, observes marriage counselor Aline Zoldbrod. In being this selfish, you can and will shame and humiliate them, make them anxious or even paranoid, potentially wind up on tape or someone's iPhone, and you may well ruin the memory of their special event.
2. Making an announcement of your own
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Therapist Gloria Brame states that one of the rudest things people do at weddings is decide to use the event to make their announcement, whether it's an engagement, a pregnancy, or something else.
They are taking advantage of the wedding couple's invitees to direct the crowd's attention to themselves. This steals the spotlight away from the bride and groom, who rightfully deserve to be the center of attention at their wedding.
3. Stealing the bride's thunder
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Gloria Brame continues with another tragic action to ruin a wedding. Stealing the bride's thunder is a low-class, tone-deaf move.
Whether it's the girl in the crowd who wears a white dress to the wedding to steal some attention away from the bride, or people announcing a special event (getting married, being pregnant, or other attention-seeking announcements), anything you do that takes the spotlight away from the bride and groom is viewed as poor taste at best and toxically self-centered at worst. Let the couple be the focus of everyone's attention.
4. Making lewd jokes during a speech
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This can take different forms as well, explains Dr. Brame. For example, when the person designated to give the congratulatory speech to the couple makes embarrassing or lewd jokes, puts the couple in a bad light, or talks about the couple's exes, it's an insult to the bride and groom.
Speech time is for a glowing, heartfelt tribute to their joyful union, not how much you can shock the crowd. Similarly, dressing like a slob, showing up late, getting stinking drunk, and other antisocial acts show that you have zero respect for the people who invested time and money so you could share their sacred day.
5. Critiquing the wedding during the wedding
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According to couples counselor Larry Michel, the rudest thing anyone could do at a wedding is bring attention to themselves and away from the bride and groom. Using someone's wedding to make a personal announcement, like a pregnancy, and then worse making a scene by getting overly intoxicated or complaining or critiquing the the event. Can you say "Rude" with a capital "R"?
6. Standing up during the vows
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Standing up during the vows, whether asked for your blessing or not, and saying you object to the union is the rudest thing life coach Kathy Ramsperger can think of for a guest to do. Or expressing your displeasure at it during the ceremony and reception at all. Who a person is marrying is none of your business. So behave accordingly.
7. Wearing something too casual or too revealing
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Marriage counselor Mary Kay Concharo explains that the rudest thing you could do at someone else’s wedding is to somehow draw the focus away from the couple onto you. This can happen if you wear inappropriate clothing (a white bridal-looking dress, something too casual or too revealing), or if your behavior is attention-grabbing (too loud, too drunk, too emotional).
It’s important to remember the wedding is about the bride and groom. They have spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours preparing for this special day. If you are a guest, be unobtrusive, there to celebrate them!
8. Wearing a white bridal-looking dress
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Finally, dating coach Ronnie Ann Ryan suggests not to wear a white dress to someone else's wedding, it is bad form, and even worse is giving a toast revealing embarrassing moments while wearing that white dress. Just don't do it.
A wedding ceremony is a special day and a sacred space for the bride and groom to demonstrate and celebrate their love and devotion. Over the years, wedding styles may have changed in their details, but certain behaviors are never acceptable from wedding guests.
Will Curtis is a creator, editor, and activist who has spent the last decade working remotely.