English weddings
We speak the same language and we were once ruled by the same king. I’m even living in the same village that George Washington’s ancestors are from!
However, and it may not surprise you very much but the US and the UK are very very different – even the wedding rituals. Which can bring up a few awkward moments, just try to figure out what a “bridal shower” would be if you didn’t already know.
Some things are the same, just called by other names. Bachelorette party = Hen do, Bachelor party = Stag do. Though, they’re usually done in nearby cities or even other countries (Prauge is popular)! Often people will dress up, seeeriously dress up, as in Halloween dress up, here is an example:
mmm…tutus…
Mr. D’orsay’s explanation of a typical English wedding:
A typical UK wedding usually kicks off at about 10-11am with the bride and groom each preparing at their own homes. The bride is then usually driven from her house (with all the neighbors watching and/or clapping) to the church. It’s also usual for the bride to be “casually late” to the church. The church ceremony happens, the register is signed and then everybody heads on to the reception for food and drinks (food is usually referred to as the wedding breakfast, even though it happens early afternoon). The wedding breakfast is eaten and then it’s the speeches — brides father, groom, best man. Depending on the religion of the bride/grooms family, sometimes a sweepstake occurs, with people betting on how long the speeches will last.
The night-do starts abut 7-8pm where additional guests will turn up (people that weren’t invited to the reception/ceremony) and alcohol is consumed usually accompanied by a buffet. Cash bars are the norm but often the first few drinks are free. Depending on the bar license, the official night-do usually ends at about midnight.
There is no rehearsal dinner or bridal shower, and the weddings pretty much last all day. As a side note, I have no idea what the rental feels for this would be. I can’t imagine what it would be like to rent a venue for an entire Saturday!
You can see how it can all get confusing!!! Have you had to explain any cultural differences or traditions to each other and your families?
January 8th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Oh the wonders of explaining different cultural wedding traditions to your family!! I think the thing that helped me most was getting a book on Hindu weddings and reading through the section that detailed what they do in the area Jay’s family is from. And then we were pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t expected to be that intense/elaborate! The big thing though is communication. If the parents/families of the bride and groom don’t talk, then there will always be some confusion and much in the way of assumptions. With our families, Jay and I had to be the mediators when they would get passionate about what to do and what not to do. It was really about Jay and I and not about who’s culture was represented more, so we’d try to kindly remind them of that. Having 2 separate ceremonies, in our instance, worked out great though because my family got to see a glimpse into Jay’s Indian/Hindu culture and they were able to see how family oriented they were. I’d never thought there would be so many differences between US and UK weddings!!