Bride and Groom Break Wedding Tradition: 'Not Sure if It Was Acceptable'

A bride and groom found a unique way to turn heads at their wedding by having a "best woman" and "man of honor."

Singer-songwriter Carla Wehbe from Sydney, Australia, got people talking on TikTok after posting a clip from her first cousin Raymond's wedding to his wife Bella back on September 30.

The video, which was shared under the handle @carlawehbe, showcased the couple's special approach to their big day.

Raymond and Bella are not alone in taking a more personalized approach to their nuptials. According to a survey of nearly 12,000 U.S. couples who got married in 2022, 33 percent of newlyweds incorporated their own unique theme into the proceedings.

These figures, which come from an annual survey of users conducted by the wedding planning website The Knot, represented a 13 percent increase on the number reported in 2021.

Raymond and Bella certainly put their own spin on proceedings. As Wehbe's video shows, the couple opted to have a man of honor who wore a pink suit to match the bridesmaids.

They also enlisted a best woman, who wore a black dress to match the formal attire of the rest of the groomsmen.

Though it may have been a break from tradition, Wehbe explained that the move was motivated by a desire to include close family in proceedings—the man of honor is Bella's brother, while Raymond's sister served as best woman,

"The reason they did it was because their siblings were their best friends and they wanted them to stand by their side on their special day," Wehbe told Newsweek."I loved the idea and thought it made the day really special."

Wehbe was not alone in showing appreciation for the bride and groom's bold approach, with many fellow admirers taking to the TikTok video's comments section to endorse the idea.

"This is amazing," one viewer wrote. "This needs to be done more often," a second commented with a third adding: "why am I about to cry." A fourth said: "If my brothers don't have me as a best woman I'm fighting."

At the time of writing, Wehbe's video has been watched over 65 million times.

Commenting on the clip's popularity, Wehbe said: "At first i thought it was because it's not a common idea to do that, but after seeing so many comments sharing their experience doing the same or similar thing i think people just saw it as a beautiful thing to do (apart from the people who were absolutely against it)." Indeed, many users shared similar experiences of mixing things up with best men and bridesmaids at the altar.

"My husbands female friend was a grooms woman at our wedding and he is a brides man in hers," one TikToker said. "That was my wedding. I had a men of honor and he had a best woman. Wouldn't change it because those people had a important impact on our life," a second user wrote.

A third commented: "My dad's wedding was similar. He had a best woman. His best friend and my big brother was his and his wife's man of honor. I loved it."

Not everyone was impressed though. "If my man did this I'd tell him to just marry her then," one user wrote with another adding: "hell no."

The naysayers were firmly in the minority though with Wehbe hopeful that the video will motivate others to follow suit and have the wedding they want.

"It will definitely inspire people who may have wanted to but were not sure if it was acceptable," she said. "People should just do what makes them happy on their special day!"

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