Wedding Invitations

Here we are in June, prime wedding season, and many peoples’ weekends are full with weddings or wedding-related events like showers or luncheons or bachelor parties. For some guests and members of the wedding party, multiple wedding events might get on the pricey side. Of course they would love to attend each and every one of your parties, but it’s thoughtful (not to mention good wedding etiquette) to keep others’ finances in mind when scheduling or planning such events.

For instance, some brides might all but mandate that the members of their bridal party attend multiple bridal showers and an elaborate bachelorette party (it’s not uncommon these days for some bachelorette and bachelor parties to last an entire weekend in addition to happening out of town in an exciting location, like Las Vegas) on top of the rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception. But if any of those bridesmaids live out of town, attendance at these parties means paying for plane tickets, hotel rooms, and rental cars over and over – and this might mean, for some girls, that the “fun” line item on their budget was blown long before the actual wedding.

Of course, your results may vary – your wedding party members might be in a completely different financial situation from that described in the above example. But it certainly doesn’t hurt anything for the bride and groom to mention – when asking people to be a bridesmaid or groomsman – that being in the wedding party could mean a significant financial commitment on their part. That’s not just good wedding etiquette, that’s also common sense and good manners.

It’s not unusual during wedding planning for brides to find their grooms aren’t terribly enthusiastic about much of the hard work involved. But even the busiest groom typically finds one part of the wedding planning process to be his favorite: the cake-tasting appointment at the bakery (or, better yet, multiple appointments at multiple bakeries!).

Wedding cakes have been a part of weddings for just about as long as brides, grooms, and even wedding etiquette. Did you know, for instance, that many hundreds of years ago, wedding guests each brought a small cake, which were stacked on the table in levels and layers. This wasn’t just potluck dessert: if the bride and groom were able to kiss over the top of the stack it was considered good luck.

Nowadays, it’s not unusual to find a second cake at a wedding reception: the groom’s cake. The groom’s cake can serve many purposes, from dessert at the rehearsal dinner, to an alternative choice to the wedding cake at a reception. It’s customary for the groom’s cake to be displayed next to the bride’s cake, and later cut and put into boxes for guests to take home. Legend says that single women are supposed to sleep with a slice under their pillow the same night they receive it — and if they do, they will dream of their future husband. Boxed slices of groom’s cake can also serve as wedding favors.

While wedding etiquette doesn’t specify who may cut the groom’s cake, you and your groom may decide to honor the groom’s cake as they do the wedding cake, and cut the first piece together.