Went to a $50,000 wedding last night.

[underpants]

Co-worker’s wedding. Outdoor December wedding. The reception was on site just outside of Richmond. The couple and the wedding party stayed at the lodge and cabins. Flawlessly planned and executed by the staff. About 200 people I’d guess. Endless buffet featuring beef tenderloin, shrimp (biggies) & grits, and Peruvian chicken. Open bar - I was driving and lots of coworkers were there so…. Eggnog for the toasts - my wife determined there was no alcohol in them just uncooked vanilla. Tasted like bourbon.
My wife and I had a blast.

One of the Appetizers. These just kept coming out if the kitchen during cocktail hour before dinner.

Delicious tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich.
That’s a coffee cup beside it to give it scale.

[Phoenix61]

1. Wow! That's a heck of a wedding. Cute appetizer. nt

[spooky3]

2. Sounds very professionally done. Wish they had invited us! Nt

[underpants]

12. I forgot about the shrimp and grits

In a dish. Big shrimp. Not a fan of grits.

[Freddie]

3. Went to a friend's son's wedding last year

Ceremony and reception held at one of the classiest places in the area. Just beautiful, great food (filet mignon among other things), had a great time. DH and I left a while after dinner as the music was getting too loud to talk (yeah, we’re old).
Couple days later asked the parents how the rest of the reception went. “Oh, you missed the part where the police came.” I thought they were kidding, they weren’t. One of the ushers had been dating one of the bridesmaids and they had a nasty breakup right before the wedding and the fight continued into the reception, things got ugly. Cherished wedding memories.

[underpants]

5. That's hilarious

Good times.

[mopinko]

11. i got 1 that beats that.

when my nephew got married in the pabts mansion in mke, beautiful wedding, him and the groomsmen in his army dress uniform, w the sabers and all that. amazing venue.
then the brides uncle had a heart attack on the dance floor. fortunately there was a cardiologist in the house who did cpr til the emt’s arrived. like 20 min, tho.

he survived and was fine. but man….
craziest thing i ever saw at a wedding.

[MLAA]

15. Wow. Went to the Pabst Mansion for a tour last summer. Gorgeous August day. It was well

worth the time. My first trip to Wisconsin.

[mopinko]

33. even tho there were almost as many beer companies in chi,

the owners didnt build the kind of palaces the mke brewers did.
i think there are 4-5 others in that part of town.
great city. almost as good as chi.

[bamagal62]

4. Such a great idea on

The grilled cheese/tomato soup! Filing that one away.

[underpants]

6. Yeah. I wish I'd taken a suggestion from a coworker and got some vodka with one.

Hardy Bloody Mary.

[woodsprite]

7. Sounds like a beautiful wedding/reception. Very elegant! Love the cheese/tomato soup appetizers.

Sounds like you had a much better time than we had at an outdoor December wedding in Williamsburg last year.

My nephew's wedding was darned cold, ceremony held in a field, and the reception was held in a hay covered dirt-floor training arena barn with the only heat coming from 3 gas pole heaters that look like lampposts. The chotskis they gave to everyone - a blanket to wrap up in, and disposable hand and foot warmers. Not many people took their coats off, and underneath, we were all dressed in formal attire as requested. My husband's aunt wore Feragamo shoes (found at a DC vintage shop) with her outfit and they were totally ruined due to the dirt/mud. I tried to warn family before we went (I looked the site up online, then actually went out to photo sites to look for weddings held there), no warning from the bride's family. MIL/SIL were majorly ticked, then SIL found out it was a dry wedding. I couldn't believe she didn't honor the bride/groom's wishes and she ended up bringing a boxed wine in her bag. It was definitely interesting and different. How's that quote go about Dec 7? "A date that will live in infamy"

[underpants]

13. The 'burg never disappoints

I grew up just down the road. Spent lots of time in Williamsburg. In the summer it’s brutally hot and in the winter it’s brutally cold. More extreme than anywhere around there. We went to a Grand Illumination that was torture.

A dry wedding? Ugh.

[jimfields33]

19. I was in a wedding that was dry and no dancing

Ugh. Worst of the 50 or so weddings I’ve gone to through the decades.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. I never went to anything but dry weddings until I was in my 30s

and my cousin had a champagne fountain at hers. It just wasn't done in rural KY. The size of the wedding party and the number of guests determined whether or not your wedding was "Big". Receptions were cake, punch, nuts and maybe mints. Sometimes a family might go all out and have ham & biscuits, cheese straws and coffee.

My first all out, dinner wedding was my own in 1983. The dinner was just the wedding party and family though (30 at most). We had about 120 at the ceremony with some cake and small bites. We had to smuggle in the champagne for the toasts and punch. (Dry county in KY) We were in a hotel ballroom and it was a private party so it was legal.

Since I have lived in Fort Worth, I have been to a number of big weddings with dinner, dancing and bar

Most of these have been at my church for the children of my friends. I could have funded my retirement with what was spent on some of them. However, they were all beautiful with a lot of fun afterwards.
Our Gothic style sanctuary is a wonderful setting even with no additional decoration.

[femmedem]

8. Mr. Femmedem and I got married in a used bookstore we love.

Sure surprised our friend who was working there when we showed up.

Then we took our friends out for tacos down the street.

This definitely looks fancier.

Sounds like everyone had a great time!

[snowybirdie]

9. Hubby and I

Cost my parents less than $500. Planned it all in a week, big church, small restaurant lunch with close family and on to honeymoon by 2:00 p.m. Vietnam wouldn't wait. Just celebrated 61 years. Remember the day with great fondness.

[MLAA]

16. Sounds perfect!

[femmedem]

45. Sounds like a perfect wedding to me, except for the part about Vietnam looming.

And more importantly, it sounds like your marriage has been even better than the wedding.

[Karadeniz]

18. I think your wedding was more meaningful....

[femmedem]

46. It was perfect for us.

I hope the big, fancy wedding was equally perfect for the couple described in the OP.

[Hortensis]

10. Always nice to hear about a nice wedding. Bet the happy

carried right on through the drive home too. That's now my favorite presentation of a TS/GC appetizer. Yum! (Worst idea: A bite of soggy sandwich plunked in fumey shooters when everyone was starving.)

[judesedit]

14. Way too lavish for me. How many children could be fed on that amount of money

Glad you enjoyed yourself, though. Not every day you get to see how the other half lives. Good lessons there. imho

[2naSalit]

17. Sounds like fun!

I like unique presentations of food. I've worked with a few caterers in my past, a couple were pretty high end, and learned a lot about these things. I like that idea, a simple food in an elegant presentation.

Thanks for sharing.

[Bobstandard]

20. The mother of the bride cried as..

the groom slipped the ring on her daughter’s finger

The father of the bride cried as he paid the bill.

[NNadir]

21. By contrast, my wedding was very cheap. My wife has complained about it for decades.

Last edited Sun Dec 11, 2022, 01:37 PM - Edit history (1)

The operative word is "decades." We're still married, and still very much in love.

Sometimes the wedding is great, but the marriage sucks. I've been "best man" three times at big weddings; two failed.

I've been a guest at lots of other big weddings where the marriage failed, including those in my extended family and family by marriage.

Hopefully your friend's wedding will lead to a long and happy marriage, like ours.

Nevertheless to soothe her memory of our disastrous wedding, I tell my wife, "Better a shitty wedding and a great marriage than a great wedding and a shitty marriage."

My son by the way loves the story of our wedding. He's a fan of Wes Anderson movies and says our wedding could be in one, with Bill Murray in the role of the "preacher," (who was drunk).

Best wishes for your friends.

[Rorey]

28. "Better a shitty wedding and a great marriage...."

I couldn't agree more.

My DIL wanted a huge expensive wedding, but didn't realize that it was going to pretty much be a deal-breaker for my son. They finally did get married, but it was just a simple spur-of-the-moment wedding with a Justice of the Peace. I suspect she's still a little disappointed about not getting to do the fancy stuff.

I still feel that they're a pretty good match. They've been together for over a decade, and married for close to half of that.

[KS Toronado]

22. Speaking of Weddings

[Rorey]

26. That's the way it would be for me

It's doubtful I'll marry again, but my guy is hilarious, and there isn't a day where there isn't a whole lotta laughing.

[rubbersole]

23. We went to my nephew's wedding in Philly...

Reception at the FourSeasons that evening. Bride's daddy was beyond loaded. 15 piece band (incredible). The bridesmaids all were given diamond "tennis" bracelets that were at least a 1/2" wide. During the formal picture taking session all the bracelets were glimmering in the overhead spotlights. I still can't believe the extravagance. (But not $44bil for some ego soothing headline generator.)

[COL Mustard]

31. Hopefully not the Four Seasons of Rudy fame?

[GoneOffShore]

38. We've been to three or four weddings there. Always elegant and great food.

The last one had a caviar and Champagne bar prior to dinner. Petrossian Sevruga caviar and Veuve Cliquot. Almost didn't have space for dinner.

[rubbersole]

40. Struggling.

[GoneOffShore]

41. Hey, it was years ago.

And we had some rich friends.

[rubbersole]

42. I'm with you..

The best rich friends are ones with offshore boats!

(I know how to rig ballyhoo...a talent that never gets old.)

[packman]

24. I remember a teacher friend bemoaning her wedding costs

Back in the early 70's, she spent over $35K on it and said she regretted every penny spent and wished they had put it down on a house .

[Rorey]

29. Back then that was a HUGE amount of money

I agree that it would have been better spent as a down payment on a house.

The nicest wedding I've ever been to was at a little church in a little mountain town about 20 miles from where I live. The reception was pot luck with family and friends provide the music. No debt was incurred, and I think everyone had a great time. I know I did.

[moonscape]

34. Whoa! According to an inflation

calculator, that would be 230k in today’s dollars!

[packman]

35. Yep- big time - hundreds of guests, big spread, expensive dress

exclusive reception, world-wide honeymoon, videos, name photographer, etc., etc. - parents big time people with the $ to spend. Sadly a few years later, divorced with her leaving him

[Wicked Blue]

25. Did you say 50,000 calories?

[Tracer]

27. Cheapest wedding ever?

My niece and her live-in boyfriend went to the courthouse at lunchtime, got married and then went back to work.

Surprisingly, they are still married with 3 teenage kids.

[yellowdogintexas]

32. Mr YD and I got married on top of a cave!

Wedding was at a hotel just outside Mammoth Cave National Park. The banquet room cost $50 and I think the dinner for family after was maybe $350. With flowers, my dress, cake, punch etc and photographer we came in under $2000. All our caving friends were there and my close family & other friends. It was a lot of fun! We would have gotten married in Mammoth Cave except our older aunts and grandmothers would not have gone in (even though we could have used the elevator that is used on the handicapped tour) So we compromised.

Our daughter had a small wedding in Sedona, at a wedding venue with everything in one place. It was gorgeous and so much fun. Kurdish dancing and some of their wedding traditions too. I highly recommend Sedona for a destination wedding.

[cbabe]

36. Officiated a number of bargain weddings at local

grocery store. No limit to guests. Lots of parking. Beautiful flower department for pics. Deli for treats. Management never said a word. Good for their business I would guess.

Second memorable weddings were at ICE detention center and county jail. Only officiant in the county who would go. Even guards were teary eyed.

[Mr.Bill]

37. Well, you know what they say,

you only get married two or three times so you should do it up right.

[eppur_se_muova]

44. You don't get married every day ...

It's a bad habit to get into.

[highplainsdem]

39. Sounds like an incredible wedding and reception, underpants, and I'm glad you

and your wife had a great time.

Though honestly the cost of gala weddings these days makes me wince.

I wish your co-worker and his wife a very happy, long marriage, one where the wedding photos and videos will remind them of a happy celebration and solid investment in a lovely future. I have one relative whose most beautiful wedding photos are from a marriage that lasted only one year, and I would never wish that sort of thing on anyone.

[Skittles]

43. that appetizer looks gross

[electric_blue68]

48. Omg... you had a post a grilled sandwich now. Sigh. 😄

[zanana1]

49. Was the chicken dry?

[underpants]

50. No not at all.

Everything was perfectly prepared.

[zanana1]

51. Because, you know,

Dry chicken can ruin a wedding.

[dembotoz]

52. was at an outdoor december wedding last week in georgia

I am from the north...december wedding
outside?????????????????

really

It was cold out....Not northern cold, but cold out.
Lovely ceremony and reception, but it was cold out


did i say it was cold out?

[underpants]

53. This was luckily a fairly short service and they had blankets

[Emile]

54. Was it a Catholic wedding?

[underpants]

55. Nope non denominational

Some mention of faith but that was about it. It being a December wedding there was no mention of the holidays. At all.