MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/B16BCA13/USCustoms.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" United States customs

United States Wedding Customs<= /span>

  • The bride traditionally w= ears “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”
  • The bride usually wears a white dress.
  • Clinking silverware again= st glassware obliges the newlyweds to kiss.
  • Rice is sometimes thrown = at the newlyweds as they leave the ceremony.
  • A color scheme is often u= sed so that the invitation matches the bridesmaids' dresses and the table settings.
  • The bride's family sends engraved invitations to the wedding guests, addressed by hand to show = the importance and personal meaning of the occasion.
  • Guests send or deliver wedding gifts to the bride's family home before the wedding day.
  • A wedding ceremony takes place at a church or other favorite location, such as an attractive outdoor venue.

At the wedding reception following the ceremony, sometimes at the same location but sometimes at a different venue:

  • The bridal party lines up= in a receiving line and the wedding guests file past, introducing themsel= ves.
  • Usually snacks or a meal = are served while the guests and bridal party mingle.
  • Often the best man and/or= maid of honor toast the bride and groom with personal thoughts, stories, and well-wishes; sometimes other guests follow with their own toasts. Champagne, = sparkling cider, or nonalcoholic carbonated drinks are usually provided for this purpose.
  • If dancing is provided, t= he bride and groom first dance together. Often further protocol is follow= ed, where they dance first with their respective mother and father, then possibly with the maid of honor and best man; then the bride and groom rejoin while the parents of the bride and groom join the dance and the best man and maid of honor dance together; then other attendants join = in; then finally everyone is entitled to dance. Dancing continues througho= ut the reception. Music is sometimes provided by a live band or musical ensem= ble, sometimes by a disc jockey with stereo equipment.
  • In some cultures, the mon= ey dance takes place, in which it is expected and encouraged for guests to pin money onto the young bride and groom to help them get started in t= heir new lives in a new household.
  • The cake-cutting ceremony takes place; the bride and groom jointly hold a cake cutter--often a special silver keepsake cutter purchased or given as a gift for the occasion--and cut the first pieces of the wedding cake. They then entw= ine arms and feed each other a bite of cake.
  • In some social groups, the bride and groom smear cake on each other's faces at this time.
  • The bride tosses her bouq= uet over her shoulder to the assembled unmarried women; the woman who catc= hes it, superstition has it, will be the next to marry. In some social gro= ups, the process is repeated for unmarried men with the groom tossing the bride's garter for the same purpose.
  • Gifts are not opened at t= he reception; they are either opened ahead of time or sometimes displayed= at the reception, or if guests could not deliver gifts ahead of time, they are placed on a table at the reception for the bride and groom to take home with them and open later.