# British Weddings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972 "2005-02-02T13:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![atlchick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7feea3/32.png) [@atlchick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atlchick)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/1 "2005-02-02T13:10:14Z")
I’m reading a book about a wedding in England, and they are referencing a marquee at the wedding. I am American and have never heard of a marquee at a wedding–in the US, a marquee is a sign on a building with changeable lettering. What is a marquee at a British wedding? A sign on the church that says, “GETTING MARRIED TODAY?” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/2 "2005-02-02T13:29:12Z")
A big tent ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/3 "2005-02-02T13:30:22Z")
Like This: [![](https://curlew.co.uk/marquee/marquee.jpg) ](https://curlew.co.uk/marquee/marquee.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/4 "2005-02-02T13:30:57Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > A big tent Full of pissed Aunties. In mad hats. Eating vol-au-vents. ---
**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/5 "2005-02-02T13:53:08Z")
As everyone else has said, it’s a big tent where some people have their wedding reception. I’ve never been to a wedding where the reception was in a marquee, any I’ve ever been to have had the reception in a hotel or a restaurant or somwhere like that, so it’s not as if you have to have one. Until pretty recently in GB you could only get married in a church/mosque/temple similar recognised religious place or a register office. Now you can get married in Britain in all manner of new places, so maybe you could have your wedding ceremony in the marquee, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/6 "2005-02-02T14:00:27Z")
You’re all wrong. It’s a big tent. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/7 "2005-02-02T14:26:25Z")
Must be some kind of regional difference: up here it’s a big tent. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/8 "2005-02-02T14:30:54Z")
> [@curly chick](#): > > Until pretty recently in GB you could only get married in a church/mosque/temple similar recognised religious place or a register office. Now you can get married in Britain in all manner of new places, so maybe you could have your wedding ceremony in the marquee, too. Actually, a marquee is one place where weddings still can’t take place. The ceremony must be performed in a licensed venue and only permanent structures qualify. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/9 "2005-02-02T15:38:12Z")
Most of you are quite close - it’s actually a big tent. Where “Rio” by Duran Duran is played. Maybe it’s a class/region thing but they are very common in my experience, but most weddings I get invited to are in houses with big gardens. hence the big tent. It is compulsory to have within the marquee an uncle who tries it on with with the barmaids, and a girl who spend the whole day crying. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/10 "2005-02-02T15:46:16Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > It is compulsory to have within the marquee an uncle who tries it on with with the barmaids, and a girl who spend the whole day crying. If you don’t have your own, these can usually be hired from the company that supplies the marquee. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/11 "2005-02-02T15:47:31Z")
Last wedding I went to, ceremony was in church, then we all went to a big field with a big tent/marquee and ate buffet and got drunk and listened to speeches. Its a big tent. Or a gig venue that was taken over by Carling, like everything fucking else. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/12 "2005-02-02T15:48:14Z")
Well, here in Texas a marquee is a sign on a building with changeable lettering. It is _not_ a big tent. What it is in England, I haven’t got a clue. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/13 "2005-02-02T15:53:49Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > If you don’t have your own, these can usually be hired from the company that supplies the marquee. Do they also supply grannies that will dance to the Birdie Song? What about blokes worried about the hire fee on their frock coats as they have been sick down them? I still maintain it’s a large tent though. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/14 "2005-02-02T16:04:37Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Well, here in Texas a marquee is a sign on a building with changeable lettering. It is _not_ a big tent. > > What it is in England, I haven’t got a clue. I got my facts wrong earlier. It isn’t a big tent. I did some googling and found out it’s actually a bit tent. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/15 "2005-02-02T16:09:44Z")
The real question here is this: What the hell is a vol-au-vent? I know from context clues that it’s some sort of appetizer/hors d’oerve thingy, but what _is_ it? ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/16 "2005-02-02T16:12:39Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > The real question here is this: What the hell is a vol-au-vent? I know from context clues that it’s some sort of appetizer/hors d’oerve thingy, but what _is_ it? It’s a funny animal. It hunts in packs with cheese and pineapple hedgehogs. It’s natural summer habitat is in big tents (at Ascot, Henley, School Fetes etc) ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/17 "2005-02-02T16:12:52Z")
Vol-au-vent is puff pastry, sort of standing up on its sides, wrapped into a circle, with some kind of filling - savory creamed shrimp or lobster newburg. ---
**Author:** ![Ithaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Ithaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ithaka)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/18 "2005-02-02T16:13:39Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > The real question here is this: What the hell is a vol-au-vent? _is_ it? Isn’t that some form of oversized canvas structure? ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/19 "2005-02-02T16:18:11Z")
Vol-au-vents differ from marquees in three important ways. 1. They are not big. In fact, they are really quite little. 2. They are not tents, nor can they be used to improvise one as they are made of pastry. 3. They do not contain weeping girls, vomit-clad men, flirtatious uncles or drunken aunties. Instead they contain a savoury filling. Probably prawn, although veggie-friendly mushroom vol-au-vents are becoming increasingly acceptable in polite society. Keep these simple pointers in mind and you need never embarrass yourself at a British wedding again. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/20 "2005-02-02T16:21:09Z")
> [@Ithaka](#): > > Isn’t that some form of oversized canvas structure? THis is a common error - you’re thinking of a buffet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972.md?page=2)