Your wedding is tacky

One of the most awesome offbeat wedding ideas ever= the armadillo grooms cake in Steel Magnolias, which is red velvet on the inside, so once it's cut it looks like a dead armadillo roadkill. Google it.

I went to a wedding a couple years ago that had nearly every "tacky" wedding no-no: cash bar, every group participation dance imaginable, bride and groom wore cutoff jean shorts to the reception. And I swear it was one of the most fun weddings I've ever been to. My family still talks about what a good time we all had, because you could just get drunk and do the YMCA and not worry for one second about looking cool. It was a great lesson, and really helped me not get too stressed about my own wedding.

I always know that when I start to stress about 'ding decisions, I can come here for a pep talk.

I LOVE ARIEL!

I agree with you whole-heartedly, and I've gotten into trouble on forums for saying something was, ACCORDING TO ME, tacky – or offensive to my own tastes since there really needs to be a firm definition of "tacky". You ask for an opinion, I'm going to give you one. If I think something looks cheap, nasty and generally not to my liking, I'll say so. But in the end, it's YOUR wedding. I wish brides would stop asking for opinions on how things look because it's not up to us, it's up to the people getting married and what THEY like. Our views really don't count. The guests will put up with whatever is arranged because it's not in their control. If you don't want to know what people really think about something, don't ask or rather, don't ask if something is tacky because there are people who will say "Yes, it's tacky and foul and I don't like it" thus inducing tears and hurt feelings in the person foolish enough to ask. Having said that, I would never, EVER, go up to someone and just tell them – my opinion needs to be invited before I dare say anything.

Kitch is a defense strategy where you can claim to love a thing ironically, because on it's merits alone might set you up for the tacky debate. Just love a thing for what it is, social stigma be damned.

Haha! SO true. I couldn't have said it better myself.

My fiance and I thrive on tacky. We're the tackiest people around(we have orange carpet, wood paneling and multiple velvet Elvis paintings decorating our house). I know for certain that there will be plenty of other people at my wedding who will be horrified at all of our tackiness. Do I care? Not one bit. Wanna know why? Because that's EXACTLY what we were going for. Tacky! It's our day and we'll be tacky if we want to!

I'm a bit behind on my OBB reading…but I totally needed to hear this! Thank you Ariel! I would be certifiable if I didn't have this site!

Amen to that!

I have decided that my wedding is *mine*. And the groom's obviously.

Although my wedding won't be the world most OBB occation, I love reading about OBBs, and I am certainly subscribing to the view that I'll do as I darn well please and screw what everyone else thinks!

I agree with comment #47
And while I at first did enjoy this blog's celebration of all things unique and offbeat, Ariel's recent increasing blowups on any negative comments is, frankly, off putting. Any post on any subject is going to evoke negative AND positive reactions from people. Freaking out whenever people comment negatively, whether using "tacky" or not, is ITSELF unwelcoming of discussion.

I enjoyed this blog because it gave me inspiration for various ideas I could ponder and decide whether to include or exclude them with my wedding. And even though it is MY wedding, I still care what other people think, because this wedding is a celebration for my whole family. They're giving time and money and traveling a long distance to be with me, I want them to have as much fun as possible. So yes, I find value even when people react negatively to different wedding ideas, and I even find value when people use the word "Tacky"

Demanding that every comment flower praise on the couple's wedding choices isn't offbeat, it is typical selfish bridal behavior

Fabulous post – so true.

" is the manifestation of your fears that people won't approve of your wedding."

LOVE IT

At last, someone who agrees we should do whatever we want! Here in England everything is labelled tacky! Im sick to death of it, we darent do anything. I think its all jealousy!

Ariel, I love this post. I've already had at least 5 of the things I want to do be referred to as "tacky" at wedding forums I go to. Each time I see it though it's like "so what? I'll have fun!" Like the dollar dance and Cha Cha Slide (my favorite dancing song ever!). Thanks ^^

I've always refer to myself and a few others in my family as tack-heads because we are always saying wrong and inappropriate things that are better left unsaid.

I just remembered this blog post yesterday while reading about Ivanka Trump's wedding. In Yahoo Answers, lots of people say wedding registries are tacky, and it left me confused. Then Ivanka, the heiress of one of the richest men on earth, gets married with 3 wedding registries, with items from $10 to more than a thousand dollars. Does that mean that Ivanka was being tacky? (roll eyes) I don't care what others say, I'm going to register for my wedding. It's being practical. It's not like I'm forcing guests to give me gifts… I'm just giving them convenient choices.

I love this article. I am in the pre-official-engagement-waiting-for-the-ring faze and I am kinda dreading the offical time because I will have to tell my family what I want at my wedding… and she will birth a heifer when she hears about my sparkler filled, no tux, birdcage vailed wedding! The fact I am not getting married in the catholic church will send most of my family into a judgefest… BUT I will simply forward them this tacky ass article and tell them to suck it… in more or less words. <3

My sweet daughter is having this problem with her "soon to be" mother-in law as she is planning her wedding so, thank you for this Ariel. I had actually decided to throw my daughter a "tacky' shower and include everything that, up to this point, mom-in-law has deemed "tacky". We're just gonna let her be surprised….and take many pictures…thanks again….

THANK YOU so much for this post!
I continuously keep trying to remind myself of all the tackyness but keep forgetting because theres so much. Its really go to hear theres others like me out there! Warm regards.