Best: My aunt’s wedding. Super quick ceremony. I and my cousins were all in the 6-11 year old age range. She had a piñata for us at the reception. We devoured candy and danced and ran around like maniacs, it was glorious.
Worst: Years later, one of those same cousins mentioned above gets married. In July. In Massachusetts. Outside. The heat and humidity were unbearable. And they KNEW the weather was gonna be shit, because the wedding program they handed out to everyone before the ceremony began was shaped like a fucking fan. THEY KNEW.
The ceremony finally ends and the catering staff makes everyone wait outside the dining hall in the heat for unknown reasons for another full hour. When we’re finally let in, the AC is struggling to keep up and it’s hot as hell in there, too. When the dinner is served, it is NOT the vegetarian lasagna I chose on the wedding invite, no, it’s a portabella mushroom burger. I hate mushrooms, I would have never chosen such a thing. They switched the menu out and didn’t tell anyone. Also, no open bar, wtf.
Best: can I say my own? Everything was tailored to my tastes so I had a pretty good time. It was summer but we had the ceremony and reception in the same place (indoors with AC), the catering was provided by the owner who was a professional chef, DJ did both live and recorded music, sparkler send-off at the end, had a nice little bridal room downstairs to get ready and keep stuff safe. The only thing I would change was the officiant. He was an old family friend but made everything too Jesus-y, mixed up light year as a unit of time in front of a several meteorologists and nasa scientists, and claimed that something we did was a Chinese tradition despite us explicitly telling him it was not and neither of us having a bit of Chinese heritage.
Worst: overall it has to be my brother’s last year. So first, my grandma had a stroke like two days before and was taken off life support during the rehearsal dinner. The officiant forgot his notes and spend most of his speech talking about how marriage is hard and you might want to get a divorce but you shouldn’t. And the speeches from the best man and maid of honor were cringy and naive (to be fair they were all like 19-21 years old).
Runner-up to my best friend who got married in a non-air-conditioned barn on a humid July day.
What was the alleged Chinese tradition?
We had hot tea as a unity thing for the two of us, but he said it was a Chinese tea ceremony which is where the bride and groom serve tea to their families.
Lol wut