Should people always give a gift at a wedding? What is considered the standard? Is it normal still normal for anyone invited to give something? And “guests have a year”- does that still apply today?

I’m trying to plan a wedding for my little sister, and we’re running into some budgeting issues. I’m wondering if anyone has any creative recipes that we can prepare for the reception instead of hiring an expensive caterer. We’re fairly good cooks–just not experienced with making “party” types of foods.
Adding some details:

There will be about 40 at the reception. I’ll mostly be handling appetizers, finger foods, and deserts.

many factors that can affect a wedding tradition and those of religion, race and social class for example, ca make it very complicated. Many people, whether religious or not, still prefer to have a traditional ceremony performed by a recognized religious minister in a Church of their choice. Of course we all know and love the white wedding but this is not the generally accepted form of ceremony in every Christian country.

A different type occasion often difficult to arrange is where two couples are married simultaneously; this often happens where a person has a brother or sister that decides to tie the knot at the same time and it is not unheard of for two brothers to marry two sisters this way.

A destination wedding is where the engaged couple and often guests travel to attend the ceremony - as a wedding option it can work out considerably less expensive this way, since wedding ceremony decorations, wedding ceremony music and even wedding guests can be kept to a minimum.

Whilst it is quite normal for the Irish to have three day weddings, more couples are taking the hint and having theirs over a weekend which gives them more time to enjoy the occasion. Themed occasions can involve golf, hang-gliding, shooting or any type of venue you can imagine. This is quite a good idea especially if the bride and groom have similar interests as both they and their guests can stay at the same location.

Internet weddings seem to be something that has come about recently and a number of people are now using this method to seal their vows; There are already a number of companies based online can help you find out more information about his unusual type of ceremony. This can prove a useful tool where relatives and friends from around the world can see an online wedding take place in real time without actually being there!

Elected and appointed officials can carry out a marriage ceremony which is usually called a civil wedding. These ceremonies do not normally make any reference to God as they are a legal ceremony only. Owing to the brevity of these ceremonies, the persons getting married do not mind if they are carried out in a city hall or even a courtroom.

There are many type of wedding ceremony depending not only upon your beliefs and/or your upbringing, but also upon your traditions, and where you live.

the service may be quite lengthy and involved, and often religious, it is not complete until the legal aspect is fulfilled. So although you may think the most important aspects are the religious requirements, or that the wedding ceremony readings are appropriate, the law requires that the couple sign the marriage certificate in front of witnesses before the marriage can be legally accepted. So the wedding ceremony decorations and wedding ceremony music, although important to many of us, are not essential!

Of course other wedding traditions can be much more complicated as soon as you look into different race, social classes and ethnic groups to name a few. Performed by a Christian priest or vicar, the Church ceremony continues to be top of the list as a venue. The traditional white wedding as we know it is really only a service that is popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and some other Commonwealth countries.

A rare type of marriage is where two separate couples decide to marry at the same time. Typically, a person with a brother or sister might plan this type of occasion with that sibling, or more usually two sisters or two brothers. A double wedding saves on many aspects of both the ceremony and the reception. In terms of the ceremony, you\’ll probably need to decide on the wedding ceremony music between the four of you, and likewise the wedding ceremony readings and the all important wedding ceremony decorations. So make sure you have similar tastes before sending out invitations for a double wedding.

You will probably already know of a couple that decided on a destination wedding and asked the guests to travel to where they were intending to honeymoon. Destination weddings automatically conjure up exotic countries but it could just as easily be a themed wedding in Las Vegas to qualify for that title. Wedding ceremony decorations are likely to suit the destination, or the theme, and wedding ceremony music can be selected for similar reasons.

Whilst it is quite normal for the Irish to have three day weddings, more couples are taking the hint and having theirs over a weekend which gives them more time to enjoy the occasion. Special activities, such as spa treatments and golf tournaments, are scheduled into the itinerary for guests\’ enjoyment throughout the weekend. Accommodation for these is normally arranged at the place where the service is going to take place and where the other events are also being held.

Internet weddings seem to be something that has come about recently and a number of people are now using this method to seal their vows; There are already a number of companies based online can help you find out more information about his unusual type of ceremony. This can prove a useful tool where relatives and friends from around the world can see an online wedding take place in real time without actually being there!

Civil weddings have to be carried out by a local justice of the peace, judge, even a mayor can carry out the ceremony and most places out side of a church will use one of these people. For people that elect this type of ceremony it is not important to them if God or religion is referred to in such a brief service. Often, this type of service will take place in a judge\’s chambers, town or city hall or any other specially designated place.

I hope this has helped with your understanding of what a wedding is even though the information has been mainly based around Christian beliefs.

I am currently choosing the menus for our UK August wedding reception. One option is a Fork Buffet. What is this, how is it served? I assume guests serve themselves? Anyone been to a wedding where the reception meal was a fork buffet? What did you think? Thanks!