# Explain big weddings **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506 "2014-07-19T03:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/81 "2014-07-22T18:37:15Z")
Sounds like someone is always a bridesmaid…never a bride.☹ > [@dropzone](#): > > How does it take seven months (April to November), including four months full time, to plan a wedding? She and her bridesmaids aren’t making their own dresses, the church, priest, reception hall, DJ, etc were booked (and re-booked) months ago. We spent about a year between when we got engaged to when we actually had the wedding. But most of that was finding a church, priest, reception hall, DJ and whatnot, not to mention invitations, rehearsal dinner. And a lot of it was in the last seven months. This was for a medium-sized wedding of 100 people. My cousin had something like 400 people at their wedding. But her dad owns an insurance business so a lot of the guests were likely clients and business contacts. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/82 "2014-07-22T18:38:12Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > There are so many rules here, God knows how you’re supposed to keep track. You ask my mother. Our wedding was as big as we could afford, which wasn’t much. We spent way too much time getting our picture taken and not nearly enough with our guests. A couple of weeks ago we came back from my niece’s wedding, which was very large, lots of fun, and nothing I would dream of paying for if I could afford it, which I can’t. My daughter is making threatening gestures towards getting engaged, and wants a long engagement to plan the wedding. Which is fine, but we will have to do what I have done before - set a budget and let her know that she can’t go over it. Yes, I want her to have a nice wedding. Yes, I want her to be happy. No, I am not dipping into my 401(K) to try to outdo the neighbors. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/83 "2014-07-23T03:55:05Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > “Everybody hates weddings! Its just a chore people are socially obligated to go along with!”: We had so many people in our families so excited to be a part of our wedding (whether it was offering to pay for our wedding photographer, help set up/clean up, or just be present) I have a hard time believing anyone’s arm was twisted. Hell, my cousins and I STILL talk about a family wedding we attended when we were kids. One of our most hated cousins got his head caught in the elevator at the hotel afterwards. Good times. (Weddings are always fun in my family) ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/84 "2014-07-23T04:44:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Hell, my cousins and I STILL talk about a family wedding we attended when we were kids. One of our most hated cousins got his head caught in the elevator at the hotel afterwards. Good times. (Weddings are always fun in my family) I think a big part of it is having everybody able to be flexible. You can’t plan for everything, so the ability to make lemonade out of lemons really goes a long way. Our wedding was planned over 13 months. My wife handled a ton of details, which some people associate with control freak bridezilla behavior. But here’s the thing: She had total control over the details to ensure that the wedding would be fun for everyone. So the reason it was enjoyable was because she made our guests a priority in the wedding. Services were in both English and Spanish, and we had a great band that sang in both languages too. There was a wide variety of food for people of different pickiness, 3 types of beer and wine but also juice and soda. The reception hall gave us access to a nice patio area that people could relax at if they found the music too loud or the dance floor too crowded. When weddings are big huge drama fests it’s often because people act extremely selfishly- putting the needs of themselves at the expense of others. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/85 "2014-07-23T07:11:47Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Sounds like someone is always a bridesmaid…never a bride.☹ If you mean me, don’t worry! My Elkton do was a blast - short, cheap, and next to no planning other than rummaging through my closet for my outfit. It was a terrific day; afterwards we took Mr Magnet around to a lot of places where I had grown up since he’d never been there and since I was shortly to move to his country. We also stopped at Cooch’s Bridge which is the only site in Delaware associated with a Revolutionary War battle – the Americans were ordered to meet with the British troops who were on their way from Elkton farther north, and they were ordered NOT to fight to a victory, but rather to harrass the British troops and ‘to make as much trouble for them as possible.’ Trust me, in my case, it’s been an appropriate wedding vow, and I’ve done my duty to my country. We handed a digital camera each to my colleague and his wife, and I put together an album from a selection of the photos they took. They also made for an excellent PowerPoint. My cake came from the bakery I liked as a child. The wedding band I used for the service came from my non-asshole brother, whose wife died within months of their own wedding back in 1985. The best part of the day was going back to my mother’s house (up until that point I’d been staying with her, but my brother took over when I left a few weeks later) and casually mentioning that she had another asterisked son-in-law. It was a billion times better than had I told her when and where we were planning to get married as she had all kinds of ideas for this hootenanny, all of which made me twitch like Herbert Lom in that _Pink Panther_ movie (the date was in fact set when she mentioned the night before that she was going out the next morning.) The only real disappointment was when the cop explained to us that he couldn’t loan out his handcuffs for a photo (Elkton is a working courthouse; Mr Magnet didn’t realise that, and thought the folks in the orange jumpsuits were just doing some sort of whacky theme wedding of their own). Mr Magnet was an absolute bargain – with his engineering skills set, he’s even better than being married to a plumber who can fix a major leak on New Year’s Eve (which he done). Also, when he gets a headcold, he sounds like Ringo Starr. Peace and love, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/86 "2014-07-23T08:12:29Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I don’t think the issue is really big weddings vs. small. Fundamentally, some people like to have a lot of family and friends involved in their major life events, and some people don’t. Those who like to have a lot of people involved will have big weddings by default. Eh, I think this is one of those cases where “large” is not quite the same as “big”. Compare, for two couples where two of the people involved were cousins: Vito: 200 guests, bride in a confection that required rolling up the whole skirt in order to pee, groom in a rented ill-fitting tux, meal at the most expensive of local restaurants followed by a one-hour dance followed by the closest friends and family removing to the family’s “indoors meeting place” for barbecue. Feli: 200 guests, bride in a white summer dress, groom in a brand-new suit with flowers on his buttonhole (he wore suits to work), barbecue at the family’s vegetable garden followed by dancing until the sun came back up and it was time for those who were still awake to go get some chocolate con churros. Both as large, but the biggest part of the second one was going to buy all that meat. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/87 "2014-07-24T00:40:52Z")
The second one sounds nice, and if Spanish barbeques are like American ones, you won’t lack cooks. Where are all the older male relatives? Cooking, and maybe even bonding, even if the father of the bride is so stupid he couldn’t cook hot dogs, and you call that a fire? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/88 "2014-07-24T01:25:06Z")
Oh, we totally would have considered a backyard wedding, if anyone we knew actually had a real backyard! Nobody did, and we really wanted there to be space for dancing, so community hall it was. (Just about the only one around here that will let you bring in food and booze from anywhere rather than having to use one of their preapproved caterers.) Music was my iPod plugged into the hall’s sound system, programs were created by us and copied at Kinko’s, table centerpieces were shallow glass bowls with floating candles in them (much cheaper and less perishable than flowers). But we really wanted yummy food that everyone could eat, what with all the various dietary restrictions, vegetarians, gluten-free people, etc. And we really wanted space for people to dance. Our families are scattered to the four winds, and it’s not often that they all get the chance to gather together. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/89 "2014-07-24T01:51:52Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Eh, I think this is one of those cases where “large” is not quite the same as “big”. > > Compare, for two couples where two of the people involved were cousins: > > Vito: 200 guests, bride in a confection that required rolling up the whole skirt in order to pee, groom in a rented ill-fitting tux, meal at the most expensive of local restaurants followed by a one-hour dance followed by the closest friends and family removing to the family’s “indoors meeting place” for barbecue. > > Feli: 200 guests, bride in a white summer dress, groom in a brand-new suit with flowers on his buttonhole (he wore suits to work), barbecue at the family’s vegetable garden followed by dancing until the sun came back up and it was time for those who were still awake to go get some chocolate con churros. > > Both as large, but the biggest part of the second one was going to buy all that meat. I guess so. I think when people talk about “big” weddings they mean the number of guests above all. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/90 "2014-07-24T02:30:30Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > I gotta go on [surpressed] memory here, as it was in 1980 or so, and I can’t be arsed to dig out my diary (apologies, as it’s filled with teenaged catty remarks about my brother and Miss Vicky, but my box of diaries is hard to get to, and it’s hot and humid here this morning) – but she did all sorts of things: in addition to the Mass (keep in mind it takes a hell of a long time to process 400 people through the eucharist, which is probably what took up most of the time), as I recall, there were > > \*extra readings > \*a blessing of the rings ceremony > \*a long, long prayer vigil at one of the side altars (when I asked my mother afterwards, she explained Miss Vicky was doing some long prayer/contemplation to Mary about giving up her virginity. Myself think she was stalling actually to have to marry my horrible brother as long as possible) > \*some nonsense ceremony with the blessing of the rings and the ring-bearer himself (who was about 5 years old, had no interest in being there, and, unlike most of the adults, felt free to express his disinterest. Both he and the equally young flower girl threw several full-blown, throw yourself to the floor screaming tantrums over the course of the ceremony.) > > - some kind of candle-lighting ceremony signifying their eternal love for each other > \*a series of super long prayers and blessings (some of which were in Ukrainian because Miss Vicky and her family, despite being 3rd or 4th generation Americans who had absolutely no connections to the old country or to any Ukrainian social groups in the States, suddenly decided to get back to their roots) > \*some weird procession around to the various side altars in the church. > > It seriously clocked in to about three hours when all was said and done (Mass itself is usually an hour, an hour plus for all of the extra crap Miss Vicky wanted to do, then ages to get all of those people through the communion queue). > > That woman must have gone through the ‘Here are the many options for a Catholic wedding Mass’ and ticked all of the goddamned boxes. If there was a ‘throw a virgin into a live volcano option’ she would have included it. She did everything but release a flock of doves, which a schoolfriend did at her blow-out Catholic wedding. > > I think it kicked off around 11am or so, lasted hours, then there was the ceremonial drive around Wilmington like muppets blowing car horns and cutting off traffic for another hour or so, then we finally arrived to the reception around 4pm-ish. God knows how long the reception lasted because of all the stuff she insisted on (more staged photography, special dances, sacrifices to Ba’al, God knows what else). > > Of _course_ it was on a hot, humid day in June, as well, and she’d stuffed all of the bridesmaids into heat-trapping polyester meringue dresses. (One of the reasons I never went to a formal school dance is because my mother always insisted that my bile-duct orange junior bridesmaid’s dress from Miss Vicky’s wedding would suffice for all formal engagements thereafter. There was at least one other occasion when she made me wear that shitty thing. But I digress.) > > My other brother’s wedding was a 20 minute, middle-of-the-week Catholic Mass wedding (much to the delight of the handful of regular old ladies who attended daily Mass). Mine was 10 minutes’ tops at the Elkton Courthouse. Oh, poor you! For the three hour extravaganza, not your own wedding, of course. I’m amazed the priest would do it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/91 "2014-07-24T04:10:58Z")
Around here most receptions are held at fire halls. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/92 "2014-07-24T04:56:57Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > We had a big wedding because my husband is North Indian and that’s what they do. This. Except I was the Indian side, and my parents and husband refused a tiny elopement type deal. Husband’s argument was “this is the only time ever that we are getting married. I want to do this right and celebrate with all our family and friends”. Parents’ argument was “You’re our eldest daughter getting married _and_ you’re the first in the family to marry outside our faith and community. We’re doing it big, we’re doing it right, so that nobody would ever dare insinuate that we don’t approve or are ashamed.” (My parents did then proceed to pay for much of the wedding, so there is that). We ended up finding an awesome venue that accommodated our 150 or so guests pretty easily for an absolute steal, used a local restaurant to do the Indian food and our families cooked a fair chunk at home. I made both the wedding cake and the groom’s cake myself, and we had swordfighting. So, yeah, big wedding was an epic win. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/93 "2014-07-24T08:43:29Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Oh, poor you! For the three hour extravaganza, not your own wedding, of course. > > I’m amazed the priest would do it. I suspect the priest/parish was well compensated. Apparently, I ruined the wedding. While taking the hundreds of photos, both staged and informal, the photographer caught a snap of me and my nephew goofing off and pulling faces at each other (I was about 14, my nephew maybe 11 or 12). Just kids playing around. Miss Vicky went ballistic when she saw that photo and accused me of sabotaging the wedding. My brother gave me six shades of holy hell for it, and my parents sided with him. We didn’t even know the photo’d been taken because it was that thing called ‘a candid snap of two kids playing off to one side of the reception.’ She insisted consequently that my parents pay for the entire photography package. (They didn’t). My BIL was the hero that day, as Miss Vicky wanted me and the pimply-faced junior groomsboy (six inches shorter than me and sweating like a pig in his suit) to do a special spotlight dance at the reception. My BIL was normally a very patient man who hadn’t been expecting to be sat in a church for hours (his remark, 'Why is this taking so long? Is the baptism going to be the grand finale?). He nixed the Very Special Dance idea. That pretty much sums up the whole aura surrounding that woman and the dog & pony show that was Her Special Day. Such a silly cow. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/94 "2014-07-24T10:28:16Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The second one sounds nice, and if Spanish barbeques are like American ones, you won’t lack cooks. Where are all the older male relatives? Cooking, and maybe even bonding, even if the father of the bride is so stupid he couldn’t cook hot dogs, and you call that a fire? Like American ones minus the sauce, basically. Lots of discussing what meat to buy, lots of discussing what gets which kind of pepper and whether to salt things before cooking or letting people salt it themselves, lots putting meat on grilles and placing grilles on fires, and since Dealing with Fire is a Manly activity and Meat is a Manly meal, you’re right that it’s the guys who do most of the cooking. Salad gets assigned to the women “so you ladies won’t get bored waiting for the first load to cook”. There are some food customs which vary widely around the country, but this one is general as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/95 "2014-07-24T10:46:44Z")
I proposed in October. We’re getting married next April. The reason for the long engagement is because our venue is seasonal, and this was the first date that it was available. It’s making the arrangements incredibly easy, as we just do bits and bobs here and there. The flowers are sourced, the suits for the groomsmen are ordered, the rings have been found (but not bought), the church has been booked, and the venue is taking care of accommodation for guests and the food. If something doesn’t pan out, we have plenty of time to go with another option. So sometimes long engagements can make things simpler. It’s also giving us time to save up money. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/96 "2014-07-24T11:48:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Around here most receptions are held at fire halls. And don’t forget the [cookie table](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie_table)! I missed out on the whole weddings thing when I was in my 20s, so I didn’t have to go through any of the huge extravaganzas, and now that I’m older, huge weddings seem silly to me. A lot of them seem to be fueled by a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses mentality where if your one friend does _x_, then you must do _x_+1, and the quirkier _x_ is, the more likely it seems to catch on. For example, if your friend wears flip-flops at her wedding, then your bridesmaids must all wear flip-flops with their dresses, and your flip-flops have to have more sparklies and bows and crap on them. If your friend has neon glow necklaces as guest favors, you must do the entire damn [Color Run](http://thecolorrun.com/) at your wedding. It’s stupid and petty. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/97 "2014-07-24T13:13:14Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > And don’t forget the [cookie table](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie_table)! I was at a wedding with a cookie table last weekend. Such a great idea, and such great fun. My wedding was medium-sized (I think we ended up around 95 people) and kind of stupidly expensive, in that manner where something isn’t expensive because it’s gaudy or obviously glamorous, but where something is expensive because it’s elegant and every little detail is classy and perfect. Certainly an amount which would trigger That SDMB Reaction. Not really my idea (or my wife’s, actually; it was more our mothers than anything), but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Our parents split a big chunk of the bill, and what we paid didn’t cause us economic hardship, so I mostly just cherish the memories of a really awesome party with our closest family and friends. Also, part of spending a bunch of money on the wedding for us is that we _didn’t_ have to spend much time getting it all organized, or making our own placecards, or whatever else. Once we picked the venue, they helped organize most of it, and they had suggestions and reviews on vendors, and we just had to show up for tastings and fittings and such. My wife and I were both working 60 hour weeks at the time, so that had a lot of value for us. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/98 "2014-07-24T13:58:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > As for the white wedding dress being about virginity, that’s a bunch of [bullshit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_wedding#History_of_the_white_dress). Brides didn’t start exclusively wearing white until roughly the 1940s. Prior to that, you wore your best dress, and it was usually something you could wear again. Symbols change. This one appears to be changing again, but there’s no arguing that to American women of the 50-110 age range, white dress means “virgin”. To argue otherwise is like arguing that the swastika is a sun symbol and therefore appropriate to decorate classrooms with. Well, yes, once it was a sun symbol and someday it may again be a sun symbol, but the symbolism for at least one generation (and probably more) is irreparably something else now. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/99 "2014-07-24T14:19:01Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > I suspect the priest/parish was well compensated. > > Apparently, I ruined the wedding. While taking the hundreds of photos, both staged and informal, the photographer caught a snap of me and my nephew goofing off and pulling faces at each other (I was about 14, my nephew maybe 11 or 12). Just kids playing around. > > Miss Vicky went ballistic when she saw that photo and accused me of sabotaging the wedding. My brother gave me six shades of holy hell for it, and my parents sided with him. We didn’t even know the photo’d been taken because it was that thing called ‘a candid snap of two kids playing off to one side of the reception.’ She insisted consequently that my parents pay for the entire photography package. (They didn’t). > > My BIL was the hero that day, as Miss Vicky wanted me and the pimply-faced junior groomsboy (six inches shorter than me and sweating like a pig in his suit) to do a special spotlight dance at the reception. My BIL was normally a very patient man who hadn’t been expecting to be sat in a church for hours (his remark, 'Why is this taking so long? Is the baptism going to be the grand finale?). He nixed the Very Special Dance idea. > > That pretty much sums up the whole aura surrounding that woman and the dog & pony show that was Her Special Day. Such a silly cow. I may have missed this, but is your brother still married to her? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506/100 "2014-07-24T14:20:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Symbols change. This one appears to be changing again, but there’s no arguing that to American women of the 50-110 age range, white dress means “virgin”. Have to raise that lower number to at least 60 (or else restrict it to certain cultural/religious groups). I’m fifty , all my similarly- aged friends and family got married in a white dress (the first time) , and I’d be shocked if there was a single virgin in the bunch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-big-weddings/693506.md?page=6)