Oh, they’re not usually dry–it’s just that people care a lot more about the food (both quantity and quality) than about alcohol. (The same applies to bar/bat mitzvah receptions.) That’s why the wedding I went to with an open bar but only deli sandwiches eat was so memorable for me–it was such a 180 in priorities from my experiences until then.
Wedding food..discuss
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Interesting. I have not experienced this tradition but I have been to weddings were guests could take food home.
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Ever never put much thought into this topic, I guess because we’re so focused on everything else in the wedding. I too agree that I’ve never been wow’ed by any wedding meals either. A good chunk of them have been traditional Chinese style wedding banquets, but as friends my age started getting married I’ve had a number of hotel and venue dinners, and even a dinner cruise once! None were particularly bad, nor were they memorable. Even when my sisters got married I was not impressed.
If I had to choose, I guess I would at least opt for the Chinese style wedding. Usually even if everything else was boring, you can bring home decent fried rice and yi mien noodles at the end.
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We were in grad school at Ohio State and got married in 1978. We were “living in sin” unbeknownst to my very Catholic in-laws. I moved out to live with my Maid of Honor and her husband a week before my husband’s parents drove from Massachusetts for the wedding. Oops - forgot to take my name off of the mailbox.
We got married for $500 and that included our rings, my street length dress from the sale rack at The Limited and food from Bernie’s Bagel’s and Deli on High Street. My Mother’s killer potato salad in my grandmother’s big brown crockery bowl. Jugs of booze from my SIL’s June wedding bought at the discount State Liquor stores in New Hampshire (not many drinkers at that venue but my in-laws wanted to unload it).
My only extravagance was a layered carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, natural flowers from a bakery.
We lived in a 2 story brick row house. Had a kickass stereo system with Bose 601 speakers. Rented a portable bar and some folding chairs. Couldn’t have a better $500 party to this day.
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Too, too bad we lost that simplistic, grounded thinking.
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Great minds - we had fresh daisies on our cake! See above for more detailed description.
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For me, it was my Best. Party. Ever.
Okay, my only party. Still have the menu.
I planned brunch because it cost less and I was paying, and I was not about to try and serve alcohol to my
I was told it was the last wedding Setauket House had there, but looks like they still do “events”
http://www.setauketneighborhoodhouse.com/
We will be celebrating our 30th this July!
I think I’ve recently shared my son’s wedding in Turkey. They go to a LOT of weddings. Lots of diagrams at the table as we tried to communicate.
I so wanted to wear Pakistani wedding attire (it’s amaz!) but it was not to be.
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Your wedding sounds a bit like my parents (from what I’ve been told) They got married 42 years ago. Saw an apartment they both wanted to live in so logically decided to get married. Decided that on Saturday and got married on Tuesday. My mom wore something white-ish. My dad a suit with a goofy tie. Everyone assumed it was a shotgun for a reason but 7 years later I was born! The pics look like it was a total blast!
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I sold more than a few Bose 601’s circa 1980 from a Pacific Stereo in Houston, plus a bunch of 901, 501, and 301’s.
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Cool keepsake.
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That thinking isn’t lost its just exhausted.
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had to laugh at ‘fresh brewed regular and decaffeinated coffees.’ but for tea drinkers only ‘assorted herbals teas.’
this has always made me crazy. same thing at a conference i used to attend (although they did include decaffeinated black tea). why would anyone, least of all a caterer assume that non-coffee drinkers are averse to caffeine?
the year i was on the opening panel (8am), i made sure to bring fully-caffeinated tea bags with me.
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Well, I personally am a non-caffeine drinker and usually have to bring my own (rooibos) tea bags with me because 9 times out of 10 there is only caffeinated black tea available.
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JR- I share this sentiment. Our two biggest points for our wedding was 1) cocktail hour is all anyone really remembers and is usually best part- so go big here & 2) nobody waits in line for drinks - aka have multiple bars set up in addition to waiter service. Happy to say we hit on both. (Also- don’t skimp on the cake and don’t go too heavy on it by that point).
Would love to hear how the plaza is these days btw…
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At every vietnamese wedding I go to there are 10 dishes and the foods are usually abalone, fried rice, lobster noodles, soup and pork. I’m always stuffed at the end of every wedding since there is just so much food! Some people do bring the food home because by the 8th dish or so the food is untouched.
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I go to a lot of weddings. My favourites are Greek, Italian, and Chinese weddings. I was introduced to Cambozola at my cousin’s wedding in Sonoma County 26 years ago. Have been to a couple dozen Pittsburgh weddings, so now I judge the cookie tables. 
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Lucky you. When a cookie table is good, it’s a great day for the guests too.
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A friend of mine from that area of PA said her MIL made her and her husband carry a tray of cookies to all the guests at tables. It was a way of ensuring that the newlyweds spoke to everyone.
She hated doing it and missed eating dinner because of it.
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@grumpyspatient the cookie tables at my family weddings are way to big to be carried around. They’re somewhere between 6 and 12 feet long, and there are hundreds of cookies. Maybe thousands.
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That’s a lot of cookies! Not what my friend would of carried around. Maybe it was a MIL variation?
My first MIL and I were looking through her hope chest not long after her son and I married.
She pulled out a little box with the wedding date and names printed on the top, from maybe 40 years before. Inside was a block of fruit cake, not wrapped just in the box. Was a favor for guests at the party.
Did not look good! She was married in a church and then had cake and tea/coffee/lemonade in the basement.
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