What do you dislike most about other people's weddings?

[Sonia Montdore]

What do you dislike about attending weddings?

I'll start:
Maudlin vows written by the bridal couple (or lifted from the bride's favorite soap opera) make me cringe. The mawkishness always goes on far too long.

What's your least favorite aspect of weddings?

[fisha]

Marathon weddings. The ones that start at 1000 AM and end well after midnight. Forget that, if I didn't do it for my wedding, I sure as hell am not going to do it for yours.

[lieu]

I always feel for the bridesmaids up there in some horrid-colored dress that they likely had to pay for and will never get to wear again. I'd like just once for a bride to tell them "Oh, just wear an evening gown and everything will be fine."

[Lissla Lissar]

I told my bridesmaids that. I win. They wore their own dresses.


The dollar dance, and the stupid bit where the groom takes off the bride's garter with his teeth. Ugh.

[Misnomer]

I'm not a big wedding fan or anything, but I can't really think of anything I don't like about them.

I'll tell you what I don't like about traditional receptions, though: the tossing of the garter and bouquet. I have absolutely no interest in participating, but there's always some well-meaning Martha Stewart whose sole purpose is to round up all of the single women ... ugh.

[DianaG]

The receiving line. Torture. Pure, vicious torture. Thank goodness they're going the way of the dodo.

I'm not a big fan of weddings. I'll never understand the desire to be princess for a day. I'm queen of my life 24/7, and I do it in much more practical clothing.

[Ludovic]

Cheesy DJs. If I am married I will only put one non-monetary stipulation on the wedding (well, two: the other one will be "don't do it outside in Florida in August"): no cheesy DJs. If they play the chicken dance or try to start a conga line they don't get a tip. And if they haven't gotten paid yet they won't get paid, either: sue me.

As far as I'm concerned, cheesy DJs who try to "warm up the crowd" are just a bunch of control freaks with bad taste.

[Antinor01]

Mostly the fact that they can have one that is legally recognized and I can't. Irritates me to no end.

[Adversary]

Having to go to them. Seriously. Weddings are about the most boring thing in the world to attend.

[Angel of the Lord]

Serving dinner. It's invariably some kind of fancy, I-don't-know-what-the-hell-is-in-this dish, or it's a combination of chicken and/or pasta. Plus, it makes the whole affair go on for *waaay* too long. Put out some snacks and some cake, and be quick about everything. My husband and I had make-your-own-sandwiches, and no one bitched about the food. Voila--there's something everyone can eat!

Dress codes. Look, not everyone works in suit-and-tie jobs. And not everyone can get a full day off for a friends'/third cousin's/whatever's wedding. And, even if they can, not everyone wants to sit around in a dress/skirt and pantyhose all freaking day. Yet, if a woman comes to a wedding wearing (say) clean jeans, a nice t-shirt, and a pair of black boots, it's considered rude. Um. . .whatever. Of course, I have a problem with dress codes that extend beyond "show up clean, groomed, and in clothing that is not revealing, profane, or hole-y."

Roving photographers. Look, I understand that you want pictures at your wedding, and I respect that. I even understand that *other* people might want pictures taken of them at the wedding. But sending around one of those roving photographers who decides to take pictures of you while you're dancing with your SO--on their own initiative, because they think it's cute--is going to end with a bleeding photographer. Especially if they won't leave me alone. And especially especially if you then try to *sell* me pictures of myself that I didn't want in the first place. This is a blessed union, not a theme park ride.

[ralph124c]

Rubber chicken dinners. This is one thing that people ought to consider: do away with the sit-down dinner-just have lots of nice snacks. That is better and cheaper than rubber chiken entrees.

[Shagnasty]

I used to work big, fancy weddings clad in a tux so I got to see more and more variety than most people do.

Here are my two:

1) Sit down dinners at the reception are an abomination. It mixes two different and incompatible concepts. Weddings require a buffet or some other flexible eating arrangement that encourages people to move around and mingle. It is plain stupid to fly people in from all over the world and then tell them to sit in front of their prepositioned name tag and wait for food to be brought to them. I and others declared this is wrong in 100% of cases and we usually refused to host them although a few slipped through. Rent out the Cracker Barrel for lunch if you just want a seated chow fest.

2) Wedding cake face smears by the bride and groom are not cute. They are mean spirited in the context. Both are going to be too stressed out to engage in real humor. Forcefully smacking wedding cake into the other's face means that the marriage will last two years tops or end in serial domestic abuse by either party and later homicide.

[Count Blucher]

1) I wish there was a better way to get the gifts to the bride & groom. Personally, I hate the phony "Oh-thank-you-very-much-now-give-me-my-money" white bag walk.

2) Electric Slide/Chicken Dance/Macarana/Mambo#5: Anyone who plays these songs must Die! (hey, I read it in a signing statement...)

[Sonia Montdore]

[quote=Count Blucher]1) I wish there was a better way to get the gifts to the bride & groom. Personally, I hate the phony "Oh-thank-you-very-much-now-give-me-my-money" white bag walk.

Blucher, What's a "white bag walk"?

[DianaG]

There is a better way. It's called a gift table. There's also an even better way. It's called the postal service.

Of course, the advantage of the white bag walk is that it usually happens toward the end of the evening, so if you leave that check blank until then, you can determine exactly how much enjoyment the bride and groom provided, and pay them accordingly.

[Freddy the Pig]

1. Chicken dance
2. Hanky panky
3. Being asked when I'm going to get married, as if women are knocking down the door wanting to go out with me and it's just a matter of me picking a time.

[pinkfreud]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

Wedding cake face smears by the bride and groom are not cute. They are mean spirited in the context. Both are going to be too stressed out to engage in real humor. Forcefully smacking wedding cake into the other's face means that the marriage will last two years tops or end in serial domestic abuse by either party and later homicide.

This cakefighting thing really bugs me, too. I suppose it's meant to seem playful, but when I have seen this done, there was usually some real hostility there. Gosh, if we're going to have a public display of animosity between the bride and groom, why not give 'em encounter bats? It's neater, and it doesn't waste food.

[anu-la1979]

I'm not a big fan of shopping off the registry-I used to love shopping (in general) but now the whole going to the place and parking and battling crowds at Crate and Carbuncle in high wedding season gives me a headache.

I give everyone cash (the standard $100 or more if I like the person). I actually had one person complain (complain!) to me about the fact that I gave her money instead of a bloody present. It was all I could do to not demand my present back. Isn't the registry supposed to be a suggestion? Can't she buy her own gift off of it with the money I gave her? Is the registry now set in stone or something?

[h.sapiens]

I usually enjoy the ceremony part somewhat. I've personally never been to one that was really tacky.

The reception is usually uncomfortable for me because I'm not a very outgoing person, and being forced to exchange small-talk for several hours with people I barely know or just met is my nightmare. I also agree with previous posters about receiving lines, dollar dances, garter-tosses, wedding cake face-smashing and intrusive photographers.

[Zsofia]

The OP stole mine. Gaaaargh, "I promise to always be your schmoopie-bunny."

Even better, when the bride and groom are so full of themselves with that "Oh, he can't see me in the dress!" that they take three hours of pictures AFTER the ceremony and we aren't allowed to eat until they show up. Take 'em first, before your mom cries her mascara off.

Oh, and people who let their kids monopolize the thing. Your baby cries, you remove her. Your kids aren't so cute that we all want to watch them all night unless they're the ones getting married. (Well behaved kids are fine, kids who don't know how to act aren't.)

[Lissla Lissar]

Oh, yeah, the cake fights are bad. Someone I know said that the length of a marriage is in reverse proportion to the amount of cake-face-smashing. Or something like that.

Decorating your wedding invites with garters is in bad taste.

[Skald the Rhymer]

Bridesmaids who only agree to swallow if I agree to catch.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by Lissla Lissar

The dollar dance, and the stupid bit where the groom takes off the bride's garter with his teeth. Ugh.

I've never witnessed a dollar dance, but the garter business is indeed horrible (though the throwing the bouquet isn't much better).

I also second the cake smush, and have to also throw in a vote for bad soloists during the ceremony (invariably a close friend or relative who has a much higher opinion of their vocal talent than is merited).

[Max Torque]

The ridiculous and archaic religious garbage.

I'm talking about the very out-of-the-ordinary kind, here. Yes, most weddings are religious ceremonies on some level, and I'm fine with that. But at a friend's wedding, the preacher said as part of the ceremony that she, as the wife, was to be "a fruitful vine in the recesses of the home."

My wife (then fiancee) and I simultaneously turned to one another for a "WTF?" look at that. So, what, the message is that she is to reproduce and stay hidden, lest she taint the marriage with "thoughts" or "opinions"? Yeesh.

[Skald the Rhymer]

Originally Posted by Max Torque

The ridiculous and archaic religious garbage.

I'm talking about the very out-of-the-ordinary kind, here. Yes, most weddings are religious ceremonies on some level, and I'm fine with that. But at a friend's wedding, the preacher said as part of the ceremony that she, as the wife, was to be "a fruitful vine in the recesses of the home."

My wife (then fiancee) and I simultaneously turned to one another for a "WTF?" look at that. So, what, the message is that she is to reproduce and stay hidden, lest she taint the marriage with "thoughts" or "opinions"? Yeesh.

Does the religous terminology & phrasing vex you whether or not the bride & groom agree with it? That is, if the bride was okay with the minister's words, maybe even encouraged him to say that, woudl you still be offended?

Apropos of nothing, I knew, once upon a time, a woman who claimed (to all appearances seriously) that not only was she going to promise to love, honor, and obey when she married, but she planned to actually KNEEL TO HER HUSBAND while taking those vows--and she could not imagine marrying a man who had a problem with that.

[Lissa]

It's the expense of the whole thing that irks me the most. Case in point: A couple I knew spent $40,000 their wedding. The husband was unemployed at the time and they were struggling to meet their daily expenses, yet they felt the need to have this big extravaganza.

They explained it to us by saying their parents intended to give them large chunks of cash as a wedding present. I was dumbfounded. Why not use that cash to repair their leaky roof or buy a car that actually runs reliably instead of using it to pay for that one day?

Originally Posted by Lissla Lissar

Oh, yeah, the cake fights are bad. Someone I know said that the length of a marriage is in reverse proportion to the amount of cake-face-smashing. Or something like that.

I have a similar theory about wedding expenses: i.e that the more expensive the wedding, the more likely the couple is to split.

To me, it indicates a fundamental preferance toward pretension and display rather than what really matters. (And I've always pictured the bride in these grandiose productions as someone who would throw a glass of wine in their husband's face if he dared to write them a poem for Valentine's day rather than buy them some jewelery.)

[Flea]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

Sit down dinners at the reception are an abomination. It mixes two different and incompatible concepts. Weddings require a buffet or some other flexible eating arrangement that encourages people to move around and mingle. It is plain stupid to fly people in from all over the world and then tell them to sit in front of their prepositioned name tag and wait for food to be brought to them. I and others declared this is wrong in 100% of cases and we usually refused to host them although a few slipped through. Rent out the Cracker Barrel for lunch if you just want a seated chow fest.

That's the first time I've ever heard that. Folks I talk to seem to think it's the other way around: that buffets are tacky and sit-downs are classier overall.

I really hate the idea of an open bar. I know it makes the guests happy, but I would rather not have to interact with people sloshing drunk at a wedding.

[Antinor01]

Originally Posted by Shagnasty

I used to work big, fancy weddings clad in a tux so I got to see more and more variety than most people do.

Here are my two:

1) Sit down dinners at the reception are an abomination. It mixes two different and incompatible concepts. Weddings require a buffet or some other flexible eating arrangement that encourages people to move around and mingle. It is plain stupid to fly people in from all over the world and then tell them to sit in front of their prepositioned name tag and wait for food to be brought to them. I and others declared this is wrong in 100% of cases and we usually refused to host them although a few slipped through. Rent out the Cracker Barrel for lunch if you just want a seated chow fest.

Having worked in catering for several years I totally agree with this. Sitdown service is many many times more difficult than buffet service.

[Cat Whisperer]

Long, boring ceremonies. NOBODY is comfortable - not the couple, not the guests, not the minister - make it short and sweet, and let's get on with the party.

The wedding party disappearing for three hours for photos, while the rest of us guests hang out and wonder what the hell is going on, and when they're going to feed us. At least give us snacks while you're off god knows where.

The wedding party not being allowed to sit with their spouses. I didn't do that for my wedding; all the spouses of my wedding party were sitting right there beside their spouses, where they belong.

[anu-la1979]

Lissa: I have a similar theory about wedding expenses: i.e that the more expensive the wedding, the more likely the couple is to split.

To me, it indicates a fundamental preferance toward pretension and display rather than what really matters. (And I've always pictured the bride in these grandiose productions as someone who would throw a glass of wine in their husband's face if he dared to write them a poem for Valentine's day rather than buy them some jewelery.)

I've never really understood the antipathy towards expensive weddings when all parties involved can properly afford them (or not really, other people's bad financial planning, their business). I view all weddings equally whether it's a backyard BBQ affair to a lavish dinner at the Ritz, as long as everyone involved is behaving pleasantly and aren't on their high horse about the whole affair. I have been to fabulous budget weddings and fabulous expensive weddings-the pleasure of the party was always in the nature of how relaxed and nice the hosts were.

People spending money = other people making money. I don't get the hatred.

[Bearflag70]

This makes me glad my wedding was short & sweet with a simple lunch afterward. I am sure the guests appreciated it. No chicken-dancing, money-dancing, YMCA, or other dancing, no boquet throw, none of that stuff... and we all had a nice destination* wedding and great time for $5000 including travel and even paying for travel for some of the guests.

*Portland, OR... not a huge strain on people from California

[Foldup Rabbit]

Ninety trillion toasts. The bride, the groom, the bride and groom, the bride's dad, the bride's mother, the bride's parents, the groom's parents, the grandparents, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the ushers, the maid of honour, the best man, the flower girl, the photographer...

By the end of all the toasts, I am usually feeling pissed that I didn't get toasted and am wondering why they didn't bring us two bottles of wine instead of one.

[MLS]

The sit-down dinner vs. buffet depends a lot on the guests you expect to have. If it's mostly younger folks, I guess they might like it, but your grandma and your great Aunt Tillie might find it a bit much to have to stand in line. Yes, somebody else can go fetch and carry for them, but it makes things awkward. Also, in some parts of the country, depending on your ethnic and cultural group, a sit-down dinner is mostly expected. There are cultural groups in which the failure to provide your daughter with the appropriate reception would be seen as a sign that something was wrong. In other areas it's expected to be a cocktail party with passed hors d' ouvres.

I don't feel it's appropriate to judge how much or how little money is spent by whoever is hosting the party, though. People have diffent reasons, some of which I agree with, and some I don't, but it's not my money so it's not my business.

I agree with the cake-in-the-face smooshing being completely out of line.

[delphica]

Originally Posted by Flea

I really hate the idea of an open bar. I know it makes the guests happy, but I would rather not have to interact with people sloshing drunk at a wedding.

Oh lord, I'm about to out myself as the low-brow degenerate that I am, but I came in this thread to say that I hate it when the bar is closed during dinner.

[PoorYorick]

Originally Posted by anu-la1979

I'm not a big fan of shopping off the registry-I used to love shopping (in general) but now the whole going to the place and parking and battling crowds at Crate and Carbuncle in high wedding season gives me a headache.

Or when the cheapest frickin' thing on the registry are the $60 goblets. So what do you do, give the couple a single goblet? The last time I was in this situation, I gave them a $50 check and prayed they'd complain about it to me.

Humph.

[MaddyStrut]

Originally Posted by PoorYorick

Or when the cheapest frickin' thing on the registry are the $60 goblets. So what do you do, give the couple a single goblet? The last time I was in this situation, I gave them a $50 check and prayed they'd complain about it to me.

Humph.

I was once tempted to buy one fork. Not a serving fork. Just a salad fork from the bride's chosen silver pattern. That was all I could afford. I could imagine myself showing up at the wedding: "have a nice marriage--here's your fork!" I gave a silver picture frame instead (not on the registry, but whatever).

I'm pretty much okay with most wedding, with the following exceptions:

* Vows that don't actually promise anything. There have been a couple wedding where the vows are more like statements of how much they have meant to each other over time (e.g. "I loved you the first time I saw you; you've been my partner through good and bad".... Very nice, very meaningful, but nothing about the future or anything that could be construed as a vow.

* The stupid bouquet toss. I don't need to be rounded up with all the other single gals. At my age, I don't need the humiliation. This goes double if it's a family members wedding: my mother has already moaned my single status to anyone in earshot. No need to push it. And I don't really want to catch the damned thing. I stand in the back and hope the bride can't throw well, so I don't have to let it hit the floor.

[MaxTheVool]

What I dislike is the opposite of what I like. That is, I like things that are personal and meaningful, and I dislike things that are formal and impersonal. I've been to various weddings that I can't remember at all because it was all just the standard ceremonial stuff. But weddings where people said or did really meaningful things, either the happy couple or their friends/relatives, are ones that stick with me.

[Lightray]

1. Catholic high mass wedding ceremonies. I've been to way too many of these. I nearly keeled over when, as an usher in one, I watched the all the men in the wedding party (all 7 of 'em) troop off the altar dais to bring back folding chairs for the groomsmen and bridesmaids to sit down while the ceremony continued.

2. Wedding planners. Every wedding that I've been to where there was a wedding planner involved, that wedding planner did nothing but annoy and vex. I almost cheered before my cousin's second wedding, when she ordered the "event planner" out of her sight for the rest of the evening when that woman suggested that having my cousin's favorite niece as flower girl would "ruin" the wedding.

It's only happened once, but the thing I most misliked about the weddings I've attended was at my brother's -- some of his "friends" evicted our great-aunt and her family from their table, insisting that it was assigned to them. Fortunately, my feisty cousin clued me in, and I took great joy in loudly telling them that they must have been mistaken in believing that we'd've assigned by 80-year-old great aunt to any place but that table, and asked them to please move immediately. I indicated that there was a table set up for them. Outside, on the lawn. Where they would be able to hear the music just fine.

Maybe it was an abuse of my powers as best man, but they're just lucky I told the caterers to let them know when buffet service started.

[Mr. Goob]

I've been a groomsman in the tux six times, and I'm almost the last single person in my family or circle of friends. I generally liked the gazillion weddings I've been to.

-The 10000+ hour gap between the church and the reception kills me.

-Stupid DJ's.

-and spending more that you can afford are my pet peeves.

Being a single guy I usually stand with my arms folded and watch the garter land at me feet. Go fish.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by lieu

I always feel for the bridesmaids up there in some horrid-colored dress that they likely had to pay for and will never get to wear again. I'd like just once for a bride to tell them "Oh, just wear an evening gown and everything will be fine."

I was just married on August 19th, 2006.
For bridesmaids dresses my wife said: Wear a black dress. Our colors for the wedding were White (obviously) Black, and Red. It was very pretty.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by Lissla Lissar

I told my bridesmaids that. I win. They wore their own dresses.


The dollar dance, and the stupid bit where the groom takes off the bride's garter with his teeth. Ugh.

We also didn't have any garter removal or bouquet tossing.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by Ludovic

Cheesy DJs. If I am married I will only put one non-monetary stipulation on the wedding (well, two: the other one will be "don't do it outside in Florida in August"): no cheesy DJs. If they play the chicken dance or try to start a conga line they don't get a tip. And if they haven't gotten paid yet they won't get paid, either: sue me.

As far as I'm concerned, cheesy DJs who try to "warm up the crowd" are just a bunch of control freaks with bad taste.

We chose to use a DJ as opposed to a band, because we didn't want the focus to be "on the band". He wasn't cheesy though. All music he played was approved by us first.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by pinkfreud

This cakefighting thing really bugs me, too. I suppose it's meant to seem playful, but when I have seen this done, there was usually some real hostility there. Gosh, if we're going to have a public display of animosity between the bride and groom, why not give 'em encounter bats? It's neater, and it doesn't waste food.

None of that for us either. Of course we're not in our 20's either. I'm a 44 year old widower. Our requirements for the wedding and reception were simple: nice, enjoyable, respectful.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by mchapman

Having to go to them. Seriously. Weddings are about the most boring thing in the world to attend.

It doesn't make sense to me how you make such a blanket statement like that. I mean really, the most boring thing in the world? Wow. If I'm attending a wedding for someone I care about, I would be happy for them. Of couse it could be boring, on an individual basis... but that's not because it's a wedding.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by anu-la1979

I'm not a big fan of shopping off the registry-I used to love shopping (in general) but now the whole going to the place and parking and battling crowds at Crate and Carbuncle in high wedding season gives me a headache.

I give everyone cash (the standard $100 or more if I like the person). I actually had one person complain (complain!) to me about the fact that I gave her money instead of a bloody present. It was all I could do to not demand my present back. Isn't the registry supposed to be a suggestion? Can't she buy her own gift off of it with the money I gave her? Is the registry now set in stone or something?

Hell no the registry is not set in stone. I'm sorry, but what's wrong with providing a list of things that you'd like to have? You know what irks me? It's when someone buys a gift that is largely dependent upon personal tastes. If you don't want to buy off the registry, or the items there are too expensive, then don't do it. If you want to give a gift, there's nothing wrong with cash or a check. For that matter a gift card to where the couple is registered. There are a ton of options. I don't want to meet the people that are upset because someone didn't buy off the registry. Call me old fashioned, but I'm still a believer in "It's the thought that counts".

[Carnac the Magnificent!]

A couple years ago, at a NYC wedding that probably ran a good $125K, the bride and groom got pretty toasted during the dinner. They had plenty of money, but little class and its absence was on full display. When the groom ducked under her Vera Wang wedding dress in search of his prize, the not-so-prim, not-so-sober bride apprised everyone in the crowd of his hit-and-miss success with pantomime facial expressions. As the crowd grew quiet--people were aghast, of course--we could hear smooching sounds from underneath her dress.

Lots of smooches. Lots of facial expressions. Lots of shuffling of feet among the attendees, followed by the bride's beet-faced father walking up to the groom and forcibly pulling the rutting dog off his little girl.

This as the videotapes ran and the cameras flashed.

Fine for a frat party, not so great at a wedding. Especially with a priest and rabbi nearby.

[Jeeves]

Originally Posted by Antinor01

Mostly the fact that they can have one that is legally recognized and I can't. Irritates me to no end.

You stole this from me. I am going to be an usher in my friends upcoming wedding, and while I am more than happy to do so, there is still a small part of me that is resentfull that they can get married, and I am not, even though they have only been togethor 2.5 years, and we have been togethor 7.5.

Besides that though, I hate hate hate the garter toss. My cousin did that at his wedding when the only "single" people were me, my dad, and his dad. Who the hell did he expect to catch it? Me of course, while I was totally skeeved out. I wonder if he remembered that when I came out a couple of years later .

Of course, the groom and the mother of the bride showing up to the wedding so drunk they could barely stand is pretty tacky too, but that was only at one wedding I went to.

[Dewey Finn]

Originally Posted by anu-la1979

I'm not a big fan of shopping off the registry-I used to love shopping (in general) but now the whole going to the place and parking and battling crowds at Crate and Carbuncle in high wedding season gives me a headache.

Yes, but online wedding registries are great. Last month I spent ten minutes on the Crate and Barrel website choosing and purchasing a wedding gift. I didn't need to worry about wrapping it, getting a card or bringing it to the reception.

I know that Miss Manners thinks they are impersonal, but they are useful when you can't think of something special for the gift.

I also prefer buffets as they allow more mingling, but you have to have the right food for it. Finger food is best, and preferably something that's not too messy.

[Rilchiam]

OG SMASH CAKE-SMASHERS!

Really, I'd be amazed if there's anyone on this board who's okay with that. And what's really aggravating is that it's been going on for so long, people are starting to think that it's some kind of ancient tradition, and you're a spoilsport if you don't do it at your own wedding, or laugh if you're a guest. I Googled "bride cake smear" just now, and many of the links mentioned in in the context of "Some brides and grooms..." "In many circles..." "They may also..." :smack: Wikipedia, specifically, says, "In some social groups, the bride and groom smear cake on each other's faces at this time. In other social groups, this would be considered vulgar." Gah! Is "In some social groups" code for "If you're an immature jackass"? And the "would be considered vulgar" implies that the only people who don't bust a gut at this are the same people who won't associate with you if you went to public school.

I even once saw an etiquette column (not Miss Manners, I'm fairly certain) in which someone wrote in to analyze this so-called tradition, explaining that the initial smash, by the bride to the groom, symbolizes her last gasp of childhood (or something) and her wiping his face off symbolizes that she's now assuming her wifely duties of serving him, and so forth. The columnist sweetly replied that cake-smashing does not symbolize sod-all, other than the fact that some people can't be in the presence of a video camera without clowning around.

::pant pant:: Okay, beyond that. I wouldn't call this a dislike, exactly, but I've rarely been to a wedding where there wasn't some twittering about what was being tossed, if anything, as the bridal party left the church. In the '70s, rice-throwing was falling out of favor because it was wasting food. Okay, so you throw birdseed. No, that's like scattering BBs around; someone will fall and break their neck. Okay, release butterflies. Are you kidding? One hour late and you've got dead butterflies! Okay then, balloons. No, the birds will choke on them, and anyway, this is a wedding, not Chuck E. Cheese. How about soap bubbles? Eek! Soap bubbles on my silk suit? Confetti? No, someone will have to sweep it up. Hey, I've got a great idea! Why don't we go back to throwing rice? What? With all the people starving in the world, you want to waste food?...

[sandra_nz]

Wa-hoo! Based on what's been listed here, my wedding was perfect!