Weddings are an interesting social phenomenon. There are some observations and trends I find quite interesting.
Engagements, hens and bucks parties
*Engagement parties are a good excuse for a party, and fairly casual.
*As for hens and bucks parties - anything goes! Recent examples of activities for hen's parties include: wine tasting, lingerie party, high tea.
Invitations
*Most people like to do this themselves these days with the availability and ease of desktop publishing. It has allowed for a lot of personalisation of invitations.
*People are mainly expected to respond by email, by phone or in-person these days for convenience, and sending RSVP cards with the invitation are probably about to stop all together.
* Invitations about three months before the wedding, but will inform you of the date as soon as possible when they have they have picked a date. Invitations may be sent out with more notice in future as Sydney people get even more busier.
The marriage ceremony
My observation is that having a ceremony in the park is still the most popular, avoiding the heat in the middle of summer or the cold in the middle of winter
*The couple selecting their own vows is popular
*Generally, there are two bridesmaids
*Church weddings are out, celebrants are in
*People still opt for 'traditional' rings, a diamond for their engagement and a plainer band for the ceremony
*Brides wear white or there-abouts. My Chinese relatives often do a costume change to something red at the reception.
The reception
*No-Asian Australian women do like to personalise or colour theme their wedding reception, in contrast to Asian weddings which I think don't value wedding individuality in the same way.
*My Chinese relatives still tend to have their wedding receptions at Chinese restaurants.
*Wedding cakes have become very simple, with a plain butter cake or chocolate cake, 1-2 layers only, plain white icing and a simple decoration on top.
*Dancing is not mandatory - slide shows are more popular
*Wedding cars are still in, but not essential, the same as for decorative flowers.
The gift
This for me is one of the most fascinating parts of the wedding thing! These days, cash as a wedding gift is king again. My family is Chinese and am used to giving cash, because it pays for the wedding and is practical. Non-Asian Australians use the euphemism 'wishing well' if they want cash and include a poem about the wishing well on their invitation. I thought this 'wishing well' was metophorical, but saw a physical wishing well at the wedding reception. I think it will take 5 years before couples won't need to put a poem on their wedding invitations to ask for cash.
Couples often have a gift registry while still asking for cash. This is because there are still a fair proportion of people still offended by being expected to gift cash. I expect the proportion of people to be offended by cash to drop significantly in the next few years.
I'm not expecting to see Myer and David Jones gift registries from here on. For decades people would have been happy to furnish their house with goods from these two department stores. As we get wealthier, and want to be more unique with the availability of internet shopping I think internet gift registries with anything and everything will be the only type.
The guests
*Guests try to dress as the style of the ceremony and dictates, eg garden weddings tend to be more casual
*Black for women is an acceptable to wear
*Guests are expected to eat, dance and have fun, drink but not get too drunk
That's all I have to say about weddings.
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