Modnote: This is threadshitting. There is no call for a post like this in a thread like this and is taking it off topic. It is also insulting to the OP. Though I see you kind of figured that part out.
This is just a guidance, not a warning. Nothing on your permanent record.
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REDACTED. Yes, that’s a complete sentence
Have I mentioned how much I enjoy and respect your work here in the Straight Dope? I think of you, well, to be honest, like a father. Can PM registry details, Dad!
Well, don’t we all really sort of think of Kayaker as our Pa?
Somehow I think the question in the OP, is not how I read the heading for the topic.
Because I read the question in the OP, “Is buying lots of stuff for one’s child a thing?”
And I would answer: “Yes”. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even if the child is over 50.
Regarding a wedding reception/party being separate from the wedding? Oh yes. Definitely. When my parents got married, they got married in the tiny (population less than 10,000) town where they both grew up. I think my dad’s aunt may have come from two states away. Or maybe she was still living at home, I’m not sure.
The point is, everyone at the wedding was already close by, and many of the people on the bride’s side already knew the people on the groom’s side.
That’s not so common anymore. My friend married a guy from from another continent. Wedding was at the church of her parents, and there was a party there. Next party was in the town of his parents.
My parents paid for my college. They also paid for my wedding. I also took some (most) of the debt from the college and the wedding, but only after I started working, some months after getting married. My parents still want to buy me things. They seem to like it.
I’m not complaining. 