Miss Manners Last Word On Weddings.

Weddings! When one is in professional or graduate school, it seems every weekend, there is a wedding. WHAT IS A WEDDING YOU ASK - I signed on to read about Glass? A

wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of wedding vows by the couple, presentation of a ring or rings, and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or religious leader. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayer or readings from Scripture may also be incorporated in the ceremony

Last year I also wrote about weddings! I've gone to more weddings in the last two years, than in all the previous years of my life combined.

It seems there are dozens of books about the DOs and Don'ts OF Weddings and Wedding Gifts.

My post today is about Weddings! I like weddings - I don't think, I'd like being the Bride...or being the mother of the Bride or being in any position of responsiblity but the events are Fun otherwise...

This weekend another member of my class is being married in Southern, West Virginia. We want to be there as our friends are united in marriage. To join the the celebration of Life and Love. webmaster Steve found the following info about wedding traditions from the internet.
United States customs / North America
Most weddings in the United States follow a similar pattern to the Italian wedding. Customs and traditions vary but common components are listed below.
See also: Etiquette in Canada and the United States#Weddings
The bride may wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”
See also: Ceremonial clothing in Western cultures#Marriage
The bride usually wears a white dress at her first marriage.Note : Perhaps first 3 in todays world!
A color scheme is often selected to match everything from bridesmaids' dresses, flowers, invitations, matchbooks, and table settings.
Rice is sometimes thrown at the newlyweds as they leave the ceremony to symbolize fertility. Some individuals, churches or communities choose birdseed due to a false but widely believed myth that birds eating the rice will burst.
The bride's family sends engraved invitations to the wedding guests, addressed by hand (or in an elegant font) to show the importance and personal meaning of the occasion.
Guests send or deliver wedding gifts to the bride's family home before the wedding day.
A wedding ceremony takes place at a church or other location, such as an outdoor venue.
At the wedding reception following the ceremony, sometimes at the same location but sometimes at a different venue:
The bridal party lines up in a receiving line and the wedding guests file past, introducing themselves.
Usually snacks or a meal are served while the guests and bridal party mingle.
Often the best man and/or maid of honor toast the bride and groom with personal thoughts, stories, and well-wishes; sometimes other guests follow with their own toasts. Champagne, sparkling cider, or nonalcoholic carbonated drinks are usually provided for this purpose.
Clinking silverware against glassware encourages the newlyweds to kiss.
If dancing is provided, the bride and groom first dance together. Often further protocol is followed, where they dance first with their respective mother and father, then possibly with the maid of honor and best man; then the bride and groom rejoin while the parents of the bride and groom join the dance and the best man and maid of honor dance together; then other attendants join in; then finally everyone is entitled to dance. Dancing continues throughout the reception. Music is sometimes provided by a live band or musical ensemble, sometimes by a disc jockey.
In some cultures, the dollar dance takes place, in which it is expected and encouraged for guests to pin money onto the young bride and groom to give them a financial base to start their new lives. This practice, as is any suggestion that the guests owe money to the couple, is contrary to etiquette and considered extremely rude in some circles.
The cake-cutting ceremony takes place; the bride and groom jointly hold a cake cutter—often a special silver keepsake cutter purchased or given as a gift for the occasion--and cut the first pieces of the wedding cake. They then entwine arms and feed each other a bite of cake. In some social groups, the bride and groom smear cake on each other's faces at this time, which again is considered quite vulgar elsewhere.
The bride tosses her bouquet over her shoulder to the assembled unmarried women; the woman who catches it, superstition has it, will be the next to marry. In some social groups, the process is repeated for unmarried men with the groom tossing the bride's garter for the same purpose. These practices are falling into less favor in the 21st century.
Gifts are not opened at the reception; they are either opened ahead of time and sometimes displayed at the reception, or if guests could not deliver gifts ahead of time, they are placed on a table at the reception for the bride and groom to take home with them and open later.

Wedding gifts THINK BLENKO GLASS http://www.blenkoglass.com/
The purpose of inviting guests was to have them witness a couple's marriage ceremony and vows and to share in the bride and groom's joy and celebration. Gifts for the bride and groom are optional, although most guests attempt to give at least a token gift of their best wishes. Some brides and grooms and families feel, contrary to proper etiquette, that for the expense and effort they put into showing their guests a good time and to wine and dine them, the guests should reciprocate by providing nice gifts or cash.
The couple often registers for gifts at a store well in advance of their wedding. This allows them to create a list of household items, usually including china, silverware and crystalware; often including linen preferences, pots and pans, and similar items. With brides and grooms who might already be independent and have lived on their own, even owning their own homes, they sometimes register at hardware or home improvement stores. Registries are intended to make it easy for guests who wish to purchase gifts to feel comfortable that they are purchasing gifts that the newlyweds will truly utilize. The registry information should, according to etiquette, be provided only to guests who request it, and should never be included in the invitation. Some couples register with services that enable money gifts intended to fund items such as a honeymoon, home purchase or college fund.
Some guests may find bridal registries ** as they rarely include BLENKO! inappropriate. They can be seen as an anathema to traditional notions behind gift buying, such as contravening the belief that all gifts are optional and should be taken as delightful surprises, taking away the element of surprise, and leading to present buying as a type of competition, as the couple knows the costs of each individual item. Etiquette considers it inappropriate to invite people who know neither the bride nor groom well enough to be able to choose an appropriate gift.*BLENKO Glass engraved is always a most appropriate gift!
Many believe a false etiquette myth that thanks for gifts may occur up to a year after the ceremony. Gifts however, though optional, may be sent up to a year after the wedding date. Thanks should be sent as soon as possible, preferably within two weeks. Extra time can understandably be given for gifts received just after the ceremony, while the couple is honeymooning. While receiving an invitation does not require that a gift be given, etiquette dictates that all wedding invitations be returned with at least congratulations.**Invitations returned with regrets and BLENKO are the 'most appropriate'. hjh Get your Wedding Glass personalized at http://www.westvirginiaglass.com/