When you were growing up, or even just before you knew "these things", did you ever commit any wedding-etiquette offenses?
Growing up, I definitely remember committing some faux pas. I'm one of those people that gets embarrassed about things I did or said when I was, like, eight years old - so remembering these things definitely makes me cringe. Here are mine:
- This wasn't something I did, but something my parents did - my cousin's wedding was adults-only, not for budget reasons (my uncle owns a company and has been very generous to his extended family over the years - he even helped pay for my college education and it was really awesome of him) but for "aesthetic" purposes. I was two at the time she was getting married, and my parents received calls from other family members with small children who wanted to vent about how rude it was that they were excluding children and that they were going to bring their kids anyway. So my parents joined the revolt and brought my along, and four other small children showed up. We were not received well but we were allowed to stay.
- When I was a freshman in college, one of my cousins got married and very generously gave me a plus one. I was not in relationship so, naturally, I brought my best lady-friend. Pretty inconsiderate of me. And my family thought I was coming out of the closet.
- Another cousin got married four-five years ago. I RSVP'd no because I had exams the upcoming week, but I ended up going to a funeral that weekend not far from where the wedding was being held. My parents pleaded with me to come despite having declined, and not thinking much of it, I did. I sat on my dad's lap and when everyone at the table insisted I take a portion of their food, I declined but they gave me food anyway. I felt TERRIBLE. I didn't drink anything (or eat anything else) all night because I was a total wedding crasher. Years later, when my parents urged me to come to their friends' daughter's wedding without an invite, I declined and went out of town that weekend.
- And this one is more of a "taking candy from a baby" situation rather than an etiquette breach: two years ago, FI and I attended a wedding of some good friends of ours. They had a lot of children at their wedding (about half of the guests) and during the bouquet toss, I was acting all excited for the bride's sake and got a bunch of kids out on the floor to try to catch the bouquet. It was all fun and games until I got TOO into it and reached down RIGHT IN FRONT OF A GIRL'S FACE to catch the bouquet. It was inches from her hands and I snatched it from her. I blushed and handed it back and the bride chased after me, cracking up.
Your turn.