We had a pretty great time at my FSIL's wedding yesterday. With an open bar and a great table of people, it's hard not to. However, I wanted to share some experiences with you that I definitely learned from and will avoid at my wedding.
I think the most annoying part of the wedding was the walk down to the ceremony site. We were asked to park in a paddock across from the venue and hoof it down to the ceremony site. I'm not one to mind a bit of a walk, but let me give a bit more detail on this trek. The paddock was grass. No big. The paddock was grass that had been flattened to be a parking lot. The problem with parking in a paddock that cows and horses have been in, is that there are divots from their hooves made in the mud that dry solid. The long, flattened grass covered all these divots so you couldn't see them. If I were in boots or even sneakers this wouldn't have been a big problem... but I typically wear heels to an event like this! I had to hang off of FI because I couldn't see or trust my footing. After the paddock we though we were safe, but not quite. We then had to walk down a steep, thick graveled driveway to the big open field where the wedding was being held. I was fortunate to be wearing wedges, but it was still tremendously difficult not to snap an ankle walking downhill on gravel.
This means our 80 year old grandparents also had to make this hike down there, and then all the way back up when it was time to go to the reception venue! Not necessarily an etiquette breach as far as I know, but I will absolutely be considering this when I lock down my venue.
We were also out in a sun exposed field with no shade covering, in 80F weather. Some people brought umbrella's (and politely closed them when there ceremony started 20 minutes late). This is a perfect example of why it's inappropriate to put a start time earlier than you intend on being there.
Everything else really went very nicely. The reception was air conditioned and there was an open beer and wine bar. There were nibbles making their rounds around the site while we waited for the bridal party to make their entrance. There was a massive head table that was almost the length of the hall, but was still bridal party only. We had a couple of husbands stuck at our table. We tried to make them feel welcome and avoid letting them feel awkward.
Here's a question for you though. The officiant stated at the beginning of the ceremony that we were "allowed" to take photos, but were asked to please not post anything to social media. I thought it was silly to ask this, as I would never dream of posting photos of a bride and groom (or any integral parts of the wedding) on their wedding day but could possibly understand the request, despite it being a bit abrupt at the start of the ceremony. It was clarified that they meant ALL photos from the evening where not allowed on Facebook. This would include pictures of just FI and me, or pictures of us with his parents. We've been asked not to post anything until they get their pictures back from the professional photographer, and have the chance to upload them.
It strikes me as a bit controlling and over bearing, but my mom doesn't think it's unreasonable.
What do you think?