Do you like weddings?

Today being Easter Sunday I am wearing the dress I wore at my daughter’s second marriage. They had a quiet register office ceremony with children and grandparents present, followed by a meal in a pubgarden. This was midweek. On the Saturday following they had a marquee in a paddock, decorated with greenery by a friend, outdoor games for children, quiet music, running bar, buffet food provided by family, pizza van at 7 pm, overnight camping for those who wanted…..and perfect weather. A relaxing time for all, and not at a huge cost.

We are going to my grandson's wedding in Cincinnati next month. It will be lovely to catch up with American family and take part in their big day.

12 years ago when our daughter got married Himself gave a wonderful speech. It was one side of a sheet of A4 paper, double spaced, large font. Took him 2 or 3 minutes to deliver it. Polite, thanking everyone, beautiful bride etc. No jokes (he said he wasn’t auditioning to be a comedian’.

He said to me beforehand ‘those who know our daughter are already aware of her wonderful achievements. And those who don’t know her that well & her back story are unlikely to be interested’.

His speech was just perfect.
A bit like him really. ?

A lot of guests seem to be invited out of politeness and a sense of duty. And a lot of people attend weddings out of politeness and a sense of duty.

One of my friends has just come back from a wedding in Cumbria.
Not a family member, a girl who went to school with their daughter, and who they had often had to stay during the school holidays.
Because of the distance they had to spend two nights in an hotel, the wedding present, new outfits, she reckoned they could have had a holiday for what it cost.
It wa also quite difficult, it dragged on all day, they didn’t actually know anyone apart from the bride, who they hadn’t seen for ten years, they were massively relieved to get home.
What was the point in all that?

Like the dressing up, the happy occasion, seeing friends and family but agree - some are too long & they can become tedious. We often debate ‘when can we leave without seeming rude’.

I do feel sorry for the people who have to give speeches. It doesn't come naturally to most of us.
Several weddings I've been at in recent years have had them before dinner so that the speakers can relax and enjoy the meal.

Ali23, yes, those dreadful speeches (they should keep them short, instead of boring us to death, we're really not that interested).

The food is never that good - us vegans invariably get a salad or stuffed pepper (wow - thanks so much) so we take a picnic to be secretly scoffed in the car!

I really hate attending weddings (christenings and funerals too) yet feel obligated to go if it's close family. I just turn up, slap on a smile - and make the best of it - like many others.

I enjoy the ceremony but not the events afterwards. Unfortunately some of our family weddings in recent years have been the opposite. The ceremony has been separate and we’ve been invited to the reception, and listened to the awful speeches, ate the awful food and left not long afterwards.

Years ago my husband had broken his leg and was recovering from surgery. We had been invited to his niece’s wedding and we only managed the ceremony then came home. It was lovely!

It depends on who is getting married and where, but on the whole not particularly.
Food tends to be mediocre, the noise level prevents having a proper conversation and watching guests get drunker and drunker is not a pretty sight.! I think wedding venues tend to overprice everything too.

Yes I do enjoy a wedding. Just happy some people still want to get married. Good excuse for airing the wardrobe finery. Never but anything new. Also an opportunity to exercise on the dance floor and do catch up with both friends and family. Yes, all good for me.

I’ve enjoyed most of the weddings we’ve been to. We did get caught out at the first of the modern-type weddings with the big gap between the ceremony and the meal. We didn’t know that was going to happen and hadn’t had lunch in anticipation. By 4pm I was almost fainting with hunger and Dh had to leave the venue and hunt out a small shop and buy chocolate bars to keep us going. ? The meal when it came was disappointing anyway and the venue threw away the wedding cake before all the guests had been offered any. . The couple are acrimoniously divorced now - maybe the wedding was a sign. ?

I usually get teary as the couple take their vows - they still seem to resonate for me, full of hope for the future. ❤️

We have two weddings this year, with possibly a third. I think the pandemic has changed the nature of weddings. The ones I know of in the past two years have been low key, of necessity, but also different and less rule-bound. People’s imaginations have allowed them to do something different and I think they’ll look back at their covid weddings fondly.

I really don't like weddings and thankfully none in the horizon for me. I don't know why people do it now.

Just checked with DH. The last ‘proper’ day wedding we went to was our son’s, 19 years ago.

The last ‘evening’ do was a friends second wedding, back in 2010.

We are going to a posh 3 day wedding soon, postponed from 2020 (covid).

It’s now a blessing, as they had a small register office wedding instead, and now have a baby, so not sure if a christening is on the cards as well!

Aw go on write that book ‘paddyanne’ I’d buy it!

I’m glad I’ve not got a wedding invitation for any time soon. I’m trying to lose weight. A lot of it ....
?

Callistemon21

^The one where the bride left the reception alone when the groom was discovered in a side room with a bridesmaid^

shock

That reminded me of Muriel’s Wedding - the bridegroom (Chook?) having his wicked way with someone else at the reception. But the bride was one of the Mean Girls so you had no sympathy for her.

Loved that film, must see if I can find it on Netflix.

I enjoy weddings, especially when I haven't been involved in the organising!

Our family has had some very sad times over the last three years and at a nephew's wedding recently it was great to see everyone happy together having a good time.
Yes, it was a lot of money to spend on a day and yes, there was some waiting around but it was a really fun day.

I enjoy them. A chance to see family and friends all in one go, everyone looking smart. I always tear up at the ceremony, and watching the bride dance with her father, which I never had the chance to do.

Plus, I love to dance and hardly get the chance anymore!

I enjoy a wedding regardless of whose in fact I once worked for a catering company and asked to be specifically chosen as one of the 'wedding' catering team.

Love that nana8.

Oh you should

Vintagejazz life is way more strange than fiction especially where weddings are concerned.I keep saying I might write a book

No. I go when I have to and make a fuss of the bride and groom and try my best to enjoy it and look as if there is nowhere else I would rather be but generally I find them incredibly boring.

It was paddyanne's story, not mine but I could tell a tale or two ......