^^^This is not a bad idea! Or a larger van or something - thanks for the idea!
Yes, @dragonmom, join in! Your D must be a sweetheart. <3
I laugh so hard at the 180 people who have gotten an STD. There must be a better acronym for that …
Son is getting married in May. I SO WISH I could just show up and wear beige. I am more involved than I want to be. It stressed me out just opening this thread.
The latest issue is that the wedding is at 3 pm (time can’t be moved) and the bride’s family wants the reception to begin at 6 pm. What are people to do in between the ceremony and reception? I feel like I am (very gently) talking to aliens when I talk to them about it because I don’t know anyone else who doesn’t believe that the reception should be immediately following the ceremony.
Hugs Missypie! I’ll bet you look good in lots more than beige!!! 
That dead time inbetween is a toughie. We will have the same thing - although hoping it’s not too long. Do they have a wedding page? Can you recommend places to explore in the area inbetween? (I know, a little awkward when they are dressed up) - things like
local coffee shop
local park for a drive or walk through
free art museum
comfortable library
local ice cream/smoothie place
Just a few time killer items???
The wedding is in City A and the reception is in Town B (about 45 minutes away). The folks from out of town who are staying at a hotel in Town B may want to go back to their hotel to freshen up (or even check into their hotel.) However, I think that the guests from City A will just go home/do something else, and not bother to attend the reception.
Also, a huge festival (for which admission is charged) is going on that day in Town B, so all of the cool, unique places to go to kill time will be consumed within the festival site and/or parking will be impossible. I. did not. choose. the. date. (Obviously!)
@missypie that’s not an awful amount of time between ceremony and reception…especially with a 45 minute drive. The ceremony and maybe receiving line won’t end until 4 ish. By the time people get their their acts together, it will be 4:30 or so before they even get on the road. Some may go back and freshen up. I wouldn’t worry about that.
My kid has been asked to be in one wedding, and to attend two additional ones. She has no money. Don’t quite know how all of this will happen, or if it even can.
D is doing all her friends a big favor. No attendants. No shower. No bachelorette trip. Just come and celebrate. Everyone is thrilled.
I guess mine is burdening her friends then by having attendants and a bachelorette trip (local winery tour). She and fiance went to at least 3 weddings last year (all his friends) and 2 of her HS friends are getting married this year also. It seems to be the age group.
We have been to many weddings where there was a gap between ceremony and reception. We have never gone home and skipped the reception. We have sometimes shown out of town guests around the town for a few hours. My D is also getting married at 3 and there will be a gap (reception venue has 2 weddings a day - afternoon and evening). I considered whether we should rent a conference room in our hotel to host folks, but decided there is plenty in the town to occupy them.
It’s only a burden if it’s a burden. Most of D’s friends are young performing artists,grad students and teachers. None of them are free to splash out money or time.
No weddings in my family yet, but S1 has a serious gf … Anyway, does the bride’s family usually still pay for the wedding or has that gone the way of cake-and-punch receptions?
I’m paying. I gave them a fixed amount. Anything that they don’t spend they can keep.
That’s what my folks did 26 years ago. We still have the bookcases we bought with what we kept.
Although we are by no means wealthy, we are wealthy in comparison to the fiancé’s family. We are paying for the flowers and the honeymoon (have given the couple a budget for the trip.) Son is still in school and fiancé is a couple of credits shy of graduating and working in a low paying job. [Please no comments about them not being ready for marriage. If you have followed the twists and turns of Son’s life over the past 8 years, you will know that this is a very good thing for both of them.]
What a fun thread.
If any of you remember my thread from last year about my D planning a trip to Albania? Well, she and the boy she visited there are now engaged! She ended up flying over three times last year and during the last trip, they got engaged. We have gotten to know the young man via modern technology (gotta love the internet!) and are happy for them.
So, she has completed the paperwork for a K-1 visa (oh my is that a lot of paperwork!!) and expects that he’ll be here in about 9 months. So, it looks like we’ll be hosting a weddding later this year. We have hosted 2 wedding already, so this is fairly familiar territory for us. We will do what we did in the past - gave the couple a set amount of money to spend. If they go over budget, it’s up to them to come up with the difference. If they come in under budget, they can keep the change. I think this made the planning easier for them as it gave them a sense of parameters and they had to focus on what was most important to them.
@missypie - it’s not that uncommon to have a gap between the wedding and the reception - esp if the wedding photos take place then. This happened when our older kids got married. There were a few complaints but frankly, if it wasn’t about this, they would have found something else to complain about. You just can’t make everyone happy.
woah! I remember that thread!! Congrats! Make sure that they dot every i, cross every t and not overstay the visa by even a day. I know another couple —because she overstayed her previous student visa by one week she just found out that she has to go back to Viet Nam for three years even though they already got married.
A friend suggested my daughter turn down the honor of being a bridesmaid for a women she hardly knows (DD is a friend of the groom). What! No way! So what if she doesn’t have any money (won’t you pay mom?). I am praying that the dress isn’t too expensive but I don’t think my prayers will be answered. The groom’s family is wealthy and the wedding is on NYE. What are the chances it will just be a $50 dress?
The other two weddings she’s in will be more reasonable. One will be very simple as it’s an LDS and my daughter can’t go in the Temple anyway, so the ceremony will just be a simple one at the reception. The other is an outdoor wedding and I think the bride will choose wisely. The expense for that one will be travel.
Hugs, Missypie!
Once my D and now SIL decided on the date some family members had to change plans so then the Date. Was. Set!
And then we learned that it was the UW graduation weekend on top of summer wedding busy season and every venue was booked.
I don’t think that your gap sounds overly long. There is the drive to consider, and probably photos to be taken of the wedding party. I’m thrilled for your son! Best wishes all around.
2in&done,
Honestly, I agree thT DD should decline the honor.mjust say, enuf $ to just fly in for wedding.
I suggested this to a nursing student. The cost of the dress,shoes, the shower, etc, would set her back months. Just not worth it.
A few years go, I wrote on CC that I would gladly pay for rooms and whatever for my son’s closest friends to attend his wedding. When the first of his HS friends married 4 years ago, son flew himself and g/f in. A few others came. Whenever I see this young man’s mother, she mentions how thrilled the family was that my son was there. (This same man is stationed in Japan, so I’m not offering airfare!)
Thanks to everyone for your answers and support! I have this feeling that many guests won’t read the invitation (the reception time will be clearly noted) and will show up at 5 or so. I guess they just sit in the parking lot?
With the layout of the reception venue, there’s not enough room outside the “main room” to host more than a couple of dozen people for a cocktail hour. There is room outside but last May there was a LOT of rain, so I’m not making any outdoor plans.