Congratulations to you, EC and Ms. EC! You two are getting all sorts of advice here, but I have a feeling that you'll figure out what works for the two of you. After all, that is what really counts. When Mr. kwe and I got married 23 years ago we heard a lot of suggestions (mostly from our Mothers), but we already had our own ideas about what was important to us and what wasn't and we pretty much stuck to our guns.

I have to say I had a blast at my wedding and at the rehearsal dinner the night before, and no, it wasn't because of the quantity of alcohol I consumed. It all had to do with all the terrific friends and relatives that shared the day with us especially the people that came in from out of town. We had a traditional church wedding and a traditional reception with terrific food. My husband wore tails which was entirely his choice. My dress came from a bridal store and it was well below Field's price points for sure. It was a lot of planning, but when it came down to the day, everything just fell into place and we all had a great time. No big lags at the reception, everyone left still having fun, and a lot of people went out afterwards.

I don't think it ever occured to me or my parents to try and impress anyone in any way, or to try and bilk them out of money.

Hi,

Today was an interesting Culinary Historians meeting with Pat Scala of Scala's Beef. I am sure others present will chime in with information, however I wanted to provide an anecdote I learned germane to this wedding thread.

Pat described a "Peanut Wedding" which was phrase coined during the depression. It was a wedding party during a period when such frivolities few could afford. Those who prevailed did as much as they could to stretch what little they had. The wedding supper offered to guests was a piece of bread with the thinnest slice of beef garnished with whatever garden vegetables were available and a gravy to pull it all together.

Just for my interest, I googled "Peanut Wedding" where I found exactly one website which reflected Pat's version. It is a website for the book 50 Or More, which has narratives on couples married 50 to 80 years. On this website are sample narratives of three couples. In the home page they comment:

Weddings were sometimes romantic, sometimes colorful. Don and Janine Lytle were married in Paris after the armistice. Janine wore a beautiful silk wedding dress crafted by her mother from a parachute that Don had procured. Doc and Viola Colvin ran off when he was seventeen and she was just shy of fourteen; and after overcoming several hurdles, they were legally married in Mexico. Hop Ly and Minh Mai were married in a Vietnamese village in a Catholic ceremony officiated over by ten priests.

Many of these weddings took place during brief leaves from military duty. In the sometimes-hurried process of getting married, flowers were left in the bathtub, wedding rings were forgotten, and "traveling clothes" had to be worn for the ceremony.

Receptions, when they occurred, ranged from a sit down dinner for two hundred and fifty to a "peanut wedding" at which peanuts, Italian beef sandwiches, and beer were served.

Regards,