All The Wedding Abbreviations A STBMrs Will Ever Need

wedding planning abbreviations

When you are making the transition from just thinking about a wedding to sealing the deal, it’s like you’ve been immersed in a whole new world with a whole new language to go with it. More and more people are crowdsourcing inspiration and vendors through the use of message boards, and when you venture onto them yourself, you will quickly realize that there is a code that is being used. Learning how to read through these message board responses and threads is tough when you don’t know what all of these acronyms stand for, but once you get the hang of them you’ll be part of the online wedding community in no time.

wedding planning abbreviations

Wedding-Related Acronyms And Abbreviations

What does it mean when a desperate bride-to-be posts, “Augh, FH and FILs are insisting on an OTT church ceremony but I have my heart set on a DW.” At first glance, you may not know what these acronyms stand for and this sentence appears to be total gibberish.

For the record, the above turns into “Augh, Future Husband and Future In-Laws are insisting on an over the top church ceremony, but I have my heart set on a destination wedding.”

People who are going to have weddings are a frantic busy group, and after a while, it makes sense that the abbreviations are going to show up. Soon enough, you start with easy abbreviations like DIY for Do It Yourself, and then it becomes a lot easier to type RB and RD rather than ring bearer and reception dinner.
Wedding abbreviations reduce the amount of time that it takes to write up responses on forums, and you will quickly find that they are ideal when you are looking at posting from a mobile device. When everyone is on the same page regarding the abbreviations being used, wedding abbreviations can make conversations fly by. Everything requires less time and less effort to type, and you will quickly realize that the abbreviations are not that hard after all.

wedding forum message board abbreviations

However, when you first get to a wedding forum, the abbreviations might feel a little dizzying. No matter how much you want to, you will not be able to get away from the abbreviations entirely, so here are a few to get you started.

Remember that MIL and FIL stand for Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law. These terms pop up all the time, but you might see a lot of them in forums having to do with psychologically surviving the stress of your wedding.


BM and MoH stand for Best Man and Maid (or Matron) of Honor respectively. There are plenty of threads on the popular wedding forums about choosing your BM and MoH carefully and with consideration, and some of the threads unfortunately focus on what happens if you do not! In some cases, BM can also stand for Bridesmaid.

RB and FG stand for Ring Bearer and Flower Girl, and in these threads, not only will you find plenty of adorable pictures of cute kids, you will also find some great tips for how to keep little kids focused, how to make sure the ring does not fall off of the pillow and some of the best children’s wedding outfits around.

When To Avoid Wedding Abbreviations

After a while, you will be typing about your DH and your E-Party (Darling Husband and Engagement Party) along with everyone else, but every now and then, you might be wondering what you need to make sure that you are staying on the side of good taste. Wedding abbreviations are handy, but there are definitely times when you should avoid using them.

First, avoid them when things get serious. Weddings are happy, if stressful, times, but sometimes, when you go on the forums, you’ll find that someone has been struck by tragedy or misfortune. Life goes on, and as part of a temporary community, you will want to chime in and offer your help or your sympathies. When the time comes, avoid using wedding abbreviations. They are a bit flippant, they are a little cutesy and they have no place in a serious conversation.

wedding forum message board acronyms

The second place to avoid using them is in conversation with people who are not planning a wedding. If your friends offer to take you out for a night on the town, allowing you to get away from the wedding craziness for a little while, do not text them back stating that you are “so happy to get away from your FSIL.” They have no idea what you are talking about, and you are wasting valuable time that you could be out enjoying yourself.

Take a moment to think about the wide and wonderful world of wedding forums and to consider what abbreviations you need to learn. The list is a lot shorter than you might think, and when in doubt, you should always feel free to ask. People on wedding forums are very friendly and willing to help, and most of these acronyms are quite simple once you think about it!

wedding day abbreviations acronyms

All The Wedding Abbreviations You Need To Know

Abbreviation

Meaning

AHR At Home Reception
AI All-inclusive
BF Boyfriend
BIL Brother-in-law
BD Baby Dance (used when attempting to get pregnant)
BM Best Man or Bridesmaid
BP Bridal Party
CM Certified Midwife
DF Darling Fiancé or Fiancée
DFH Darling Future Husband
DH Darling Husband
DIY Do It Yourself
DW Destination Wedding or Darling Wife
E-Party Engagement Party
E-Ring Engagement Ring
FFIL Future Father-in-law (sometimes written FILTB, or father-in-law-to-be)
FG Flower Girl
FH Future Husband
FI Fiancé
FIL Father-in-law
FILs Future In-Laws
FMIL Future Mother-in-law (sometimes written MILTB)
FNF Friends and Family
FOB Father of Bride
FOG Father of Groom
FSIL Future Sister-in-law
FW Future Wife or Fertile Window (used when trying to get pregnant)
GF Girlfriend
GM Groomsmen
H2B Husband-to-be
HM Honeymoon
IHO In Honor Of (Not to be confused with IMHO, internet speak for “In my honest opinion”)
ILs In-Laws
JP Justice of the Peace
LDR Long-Distance Relationship
LTBM Living Together before Marriage
MIL Mother-in-law
MOB Mother of the Bride
MOG Mother of Groom
MOH Maid of Honor or Matron of Honor
MUA Make-up Artist
NH New Husband
NWR Not Wedding Related
OOTG Out of Town Guests
OOTB Out of Town Gift Bags
OTT Over the Top
RB Ring Bearer
RD Rehearsal Dinner
SAHD Stay-at-Home Dad
SAHM Stay-at-Home Mom
SAHW Stay-at-Home Wife
SIL Sister-In-Law
SO Significant Other
STBMrs Soon To Be Mrs.
STDs Save-the-Date Cards
TTC Trying To Conceive
WP Wedding Party or Wedding Planner



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