So, I recently attended my cousins wedding, and guys, it was soooooo poorly hosted.
FIRST she sent 2 drink tickets (one per adult) IN THE INVITATIONS! Like I am going to remember to bring that with me the day of? Almost everyone I talked to forgot theirs or threw them out accidentally beforehand. Also way to spell out "cash bar". Her invitations also said "adults only" even though my kids and my aunts kids were invited? So we looked like the jerks who ignored the kid-free wedding and brought ours anyway. Awkward.
Then they booked a block of rooms at a hotel that was relatively near the ceremony/reception but it was pretty pricey for many of the guests. The brides father ended up paying for several of my aunts and uncles rooms, just so they could afford to come. Also, a February wedding in these parts is a gamble. We had to drive 3 hours to attend and the roads between here and there can become dangerously icy. Why did they want a Feb wedding? The bride thinks she's too "sweaty" to have a wedding any other time. Nevermind that the entire thing was indoors and temperature controlled, but I digress.
The ceremony and reception were in the same room, but obviously had to be reset between. The ceremony was fine, nothing to write home about, and it was of course followed by a gap. We went back to our hotel to drop off our vehicle and then took a cab back. Cocktail hour was like 150 people jammed into a tiny room, with very very limited seating. Also it was open-bar for their 2 signature drinks but you had to pay for anything else? The line was so ridiculous that we literally got drinks and then just went back to the end of the line, since there was no place to sit anyway. Also that was only for cocktail hour, after that it was all cash bar. There were passed app, but it was difficult for the servers to get through the crowd and the apps were kind of meh (mini hotdogs that were not delicious stand out).
Finally we got into the room and sat down, and that's when ALL THE SPEECHES FOR DAYS started. Like, we learned the life story of each person in the 8-person wedding party. The MC was really into talking. The supper wasn't even served until 8 PM y'all. I am not sure if there was some delay with the kitchen (we were never told or apologized to) but it was family style, in courses, and by the time everyone was done eating it was legit 10pm. Also the food was pretty bad. The beef was super overcooked and tough, one of the other tables got chicken that was raw inside. We just ate the vegetables, which were the best part. After that, nobody really felt like dancing, which was fine, because we all had to sit through a 15 minute video-to-music projection of childhood and couples photos of the B&G, who plunked down on the dance floor to watch it.
The DJ was not great at reading the crowd, and the dance floor remained mostly empty. At 11 pm they rolled out a buffet of McDonald's fries and cheeseburgers? Nobody ate because we had just finished dinner. FI and I left around 11:15 but apparently the night ended up with the police being called because some of the brides friends tried to fight some of my cousins. I'm almost sad I missed that, it would have been a highlight.