<swoon, thud!> You almost make me want to get married, just so your friends can kidnap me! 
for our pascal pleasure our churches have a very long service that runs 11pm through to about 4 or 5am. then after the priest blesses the food (about a half hour after the service is over) you dig into the basket and perhaps if you are lucky get to sleep around 7am depending on how far from the church your house is.
sometimes a parish will have pascal vespers around 5 or 6pm that sunday.
i’m not sure why everything takes hours and hours when russians are involved. the wedding ceremony alone can go up to 2 hours depending on how elaborate the singing and how many priests or if a bishop is involved.
no wonder there is drinking!
that must have been one WILD funeral!!!
The only weddings I’ve really been to are Greek weddings. These mean several circle dances, quite a few well-behaved kids, a lot of food, and many people that a 7-year-old (or older) me couldn’t understand.
Also, kids are kinda revered. There’s cheek-pinching going on from everyone. The parents of the bride (who I wasn’t related to–I was related to the groom loosely) did the “how cute” thing extensively.
On my mom’s side of the family, it seems to be a small, eloped wedding. My grandparents found out my uncle got married when they called the insurance agent and he congratulated them.
MAJOR peeve of mine. Would the world come crashing to an end if they did the photos pre-ceremony or set out a bit of tea and cookies for the audien…er, guests?
I saw some stand up comic joke about brides choosing BM dresses:
“I want a dress that makes me look thin,beautiful and radiant; and I want something to make my four best friends look fat, slutty and orange.”
Aside: I went to a high school grad this weekend and I am grieved to announce that pastel and lilac formal gowns are back in vogue. Potential bridesmaids, run!
When my mother was growing up, our church didn’t even have pews–you stood through those long services. :eek:
I can’t even imagine! Most wakes I’ve been to have been along the lines of wedding receptions, except with speeches and toasts extolling the deceased, and no dancing. Prayers, food, drink, prayers, food, drink…
Thanks for the memories, rockingchair! 
When one of my somewhat-distant cousins got married, they said they wouldn’t kiss to clinking glasses. Instead, if people wanted to see them kiss, they’d have to sing a bit of a song with “love” in it. Once the reception got rolling (read: people started drinking some more) more people were willing to do it. It was kinda cute.