Gar <> wrote in :

> I'm with you. I wouldn't go. I had a young family member who got
> married a few years ago. She was asking "around" if people thought it
> was OK to ask one of the more affluent family members to help pay for
> a wedding. Talk about a turnoff.

Good lord.

> The party was supposed to be from 7-10 pm. Traffic was very light and
> we got there a few minutes early. The bar was open, food was out,
> servers were at their stations, and a chef was at her cooking station
> to work her private magic for each person who wished. There were a
> few hundred people there and maybe 25 chairs at low tables. The rest
> of the tables were standing height and not many of them. I was the
> designated driver and the token date. I met lots of people, Had fun
> conversation. Heard great piano music. ETC. I've never been to a
> party of strangers and had more fun. The forum you've described is
> awesome.

Glad you had fun. Yes, that's pretty much how my wedding was. There were
buffet tables set up in a pattern such that there was no line of people
waiting (and it was all available before the wedding party arrived), and
there were also a couple of stations apart from the main buffet that had
chefs cooking things like crabcakes to order. The only drawback to this
setup was that I forgot to eat, and of course none of the best items
made it into the doggie bag the caterer prepared for us to take away
from the reception because they were eaten up by the guests. And it was
fine by me.

There was first-come, first-serve seating at tables for half the guests,
but the seats were mostly empty (except for the older guests) the entire
time, because all my family and friends are big on dancing.

The open bar closed 15-30 minutes after we left, and that was the signal
that the guests took to pack up and go home.

>>I've also been a to potluck weddings in state parks and back yards
>>where there was little or no alcoholic drinks.
>
> Well,,,,,potluck? You must have known what you were in for?

Sure. I was just pointing out to sf, who so wanted to give me a clue
about how weddings are done in his/her part of the world, that each
wedding is different from the next.

>>And don't get me started on my
>>in-laws' Pittsburgh and Rochester NY weddings!
>
> LOL How about a wedding that the grooms father had put a $100 cap on
> the bar. The first 5 people in line got through with backups. The
> rest were at a cash bar.

Good god. I remember getting really annoyed the first time I encountered
a cash bar at a wedding. It was actually a bar with barstools and TVs
going, and this was in a reception hall that routinely hosted weddings.
The wedding party came in drunk and rowdy, beer bottles in hand, after
having done their photo duties for several *hours.*

And what is WITH people who schedule their weddings at 2pm but their
receptions not until 7pm?

Cate