# 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:** 2
**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, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/21 "2005-02-02T16:22:45Z")
> [@amrussell](#): > > Vol-au-vents differ from marquees in three important ways. > > 1. They do not contain weeping girls, vomit-clad men, . However, the vomit may well contain vol-au-vents. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/22 "2005-02-02T18:06:28Z")
What are these ‘big tent’ things? Round here, we only talk about marquees. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/23 "2005-02-02T18:13:32Z")
I still haven’t figured out why the British hold their weddings in oversized letters. Do you spell the vows out in pre-organized routines? ---
**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, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/24 "2005-02-02T19:24:47Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > 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. Are you sure you aren’t thinking of vol-au-vent? From the way it’s described above, it is something that is _bit_ while in a _tent_. The marquee attraction, even. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shutterbug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Shutterbug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shutterbug)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/25 "2005-02-02T19:58:26Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > Do they also supply grannies that will dance to the Birdie Song? Is the Birdie Song similiar to the Chicken Dance? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/26 "2005-02-02T21:19:54Z")
Are Americans the only ones who use the word \*marquee \* to mean a sign board with changeable lettering? I’ve certainly never heard that usage. Here a marquee, as in the UK, is a large tent used at wedding receptions, fetes, sporting events etc. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/27 "2005-02-02T21:24:40Z")
If you suck the filling out out of a vol-au-vent, it makes an ideal emergency tent (all be it a very small one). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/28 "2005-02-02T21:27:41Z")
I always figured it was a nobleman, beneath an earl, who throws parties in a big tent. ---
**Author:** ![Ithaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Ithaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ithaka)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/29 "2005-02-03T09:54:38Z")
No, no, no. It’s a member of the French resistance, famed in WW2 for their tent-building, signboards and pastry-based party snacks. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/30 "2005-02-03T10:04:28Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Are Americans the only ones who use the word \*marquee \* to mean a sign board with changeable lettering? I’ve certainly never heard that usage. Here a marquee, as in the UK, is a large tent used at wedding receptions, fetes, sporting events etc. As per [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), the definition is: > [@](#): > > n. > > 1. A large tent, often with open sides, used chiefly for outdoor entertainment. > 2. A rooflike structure, often bearing a signboard, projecting over an entrance, as to a theater or hotel. Also called marquise. Which makes the relation a little more clear. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/31 "2005-02-03T10:16:10Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > 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. Mmm. Round my neck of the woods, wedding receptions are held in social clubs. The uncle will still try it on with the barmaids, though, and we still get a crying girl. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/32 "2005-02-03T10:48:09Z")
I’ve been thinking about this. I think that the word means an upmarket brand for things like Jaguar and Aston Martin. You will often hear then referred to as “classic Marquees”. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/33 "2005-02-03T10:58:44Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > I think that the word means an upmarket brand for things like Jaguar and Aston Martin. You will often hear then referred to as “classic Marquees”. Indeed you will, but only because these motors have traditionally been used at wedding receptions held in big tents or in Richard Curtis films. ---
**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 3, 2005, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/34 "2005-02-03T11:00:07Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > I’ve been thinking about this. > > I think that the word means an upmarket brand for things like Jaguar and Aston Martin. You will often hear then referred to as “classic Marquees”. If an actor had a mishap and drove his swish car into the tent at a posh wedding reception, the headlines’d be good: “Marky Mark’s marque marrs Marquis and Marquise’s marquee” ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/35 "2005-02-03T11:06:02Z")
> [@curly chick](#): > > If an actor had a mishap and drove his swish car into the tent at a posh wedding reception, the headlines’d be good: > > “Marky Mark’s marque marrs Marquis and Marquise’s marquee” Here we go again. It should actualy be: “Marxist Marky Mark’s manky marked marque marrs Marquis and Marquesa’s Matrimonial marquee (and buggered up their quiche something rotten too)”. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/36 "2005-02-03T11:09:17Z")
[Here](http://www.gtglow.com/LVIC%20Tent%20-%20R.jpg) is an example of a typical marquee used at a British wedding. [Here](http://www.tourist-information-uk.com/images/buckinghampalace.jpg) is a typical venue for such a wedding. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/37 "2005-02-03T11:12:53Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > \(and buggered up their quiche something rotten too)\ Hi, I’m an American who just loves your country and your quaint traditions. I’ve never heard of a quiche. Who or what is it, and does he/she/it know that he/she/it has rights that include the right not to be buggered, as well as the right to be buggered to his/her/its heart’s content if such is his/her/its wish and the coupling takes place consensually between adults? I love your accent too. 😃 ---
**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 3, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/38 "2005-02-03T11:19:41Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > Here we go again. > > It should actualy be: > > “Marxist Marky Mark’s manky marked marque marrs Marquis and Marquesa’s Matrimonial marquee (and buggered up their quiche something rotten too)”. As a headline?! Good grief, you must read a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally wide paper. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/39 "2005-02-03T11:27:13Z")
Am I the only one confused by this thread? Everyone knows a Marquee is actually a music club down Wardour Street (further from Oxford Street than The Vortex) where I saw The Vibrators in 1977. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972/40 "2005-02-03T11:29:47Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Hi, I’m an American who just loves your country and your quaint traditions. I’ve never heard of a quiche. Who or what is it, and does he/she/it know that he/she/it has rights that include the right not to be buggered, as well as the right to be buggered to his/her/its heart’s content if such is his/her/its wish and the coupling takes place consensually between adults? > > I love your accent too. 😃 A quiche is a traditional English dish made up of pastry, eggs, bacon and swan. You can only obtain the swans by getting permission from the Queens Keeper of Fowl and then again only by “upping” them. (Swan-Upping is a traditional wedding activity here - along with the “Conga”) Now this is where it gets confusing. As you will note the swans have been “upped” so now the quiche is ready to be “upped” itself - by a bugger. All weddings have at least one bugger (In four weddings and a funeral the part of the “bugger” was played by Simon Callow). In certain circles (especially Naval circles) there may be more than one “bugger”. After the toasts have been drunk, and the Bride’s father has expressed his disappointment in the Bride’s choice of Groom (reminding her that, for all his faults and odours, her previous boyfriend did at least have a steady job with prospects). This is the time for the bugger to “up” the quiche. Shortly after this the DJ will turn on his traffic light system and play “I will always love you” by Whitney and at that point all will agree that things are properly “buggered-up”. That girl will cry all the way through all of this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-weddings/287972.md?page=3)