Wedding Guest Etiquete 101
‘I have dated, gotten engaged, gotten married, and been a guest of a wedding once. I have never been in someone else’s wedding as a member of the party. There is this idea that after you get married, invite a mix of married and not married people to your wedding...that they will invite you to theirs. This idea is wrong. I have been to one wedding since getting married and am only going attend my second wedding later this April.
Modern weddings are crazy things. Because young people “try before they buy” they don’t usually need anything, like I got a mixer for my wedding gift. They don’t buy a house, have a big wedding, long engagements (to save up for the wedding), and then just ask for a honeymoon donation. When I got married, it was a short engagement, and on a small $10,000 budget that included a honeymoon...and done well enough we made money on the wedding? I know I am young but I am an old soul in a young body. Do you know how many times a wedding changes during the engagement period? TOO MANY.
So, the question is...does one give money virtually or physically? And the other burning question...what does one wear to the wedding? The bride wears white, regardless of what the meaning behind that used to be, and so its generally a no no to wear white as a guest. And one should dress somewhat formally right? Or like the middle of formal and informal? Also, I love wearing black....but black is often associated with death in a small minded culture...so one shouldn’t wear “death” to a “celebration of life” event.
So I came up with a couple of options that I could possibly wear:
A lacy body suit and my female tuxedo
A shirt corset and upscale pants
A dress with a shawl
For an event that is going to be in the evening, something to keep warm is not the worst idea. What should the male dates wear? Something like a suit or a polo with good pants? I ended up wearing a dress with a belt and boots, I look adorable. There is also the question of how much to give? In my head, I would give like $200, $250? But in HIS head its more like $500? A good point of reference would be how much did I get as individual gifts? I could not tell you.
Well, here’s hoping whatever cash we give them helps and that both the bride and groom enjoy the start of their life (sentences) together! What would you do as a wedding guest? Who even gets married anymore...
