Ok what is wrong with that? What is the point of registering then?

Oh I know. I'll register at a place and not tell people because I only registered for fun. I expect to get gifts that I don't want like a chainsaw.

C'mon. Maybe your mom, your motherin law AND YOU are all crazy. Ever think about that crazy one? Huh crazy? I'm gonna call you crazy for now on.

Bobby, read an etiquette book or website about weddings. ALL of them state not to do that. People can call you and ask, can find our via word of mouth, or ask other people, or check online. It's not hard to find out and it's classless to tell people where you are registered because though it's expected that they bring some kind of gift, it's up to them to choose what to get you.

Not saying that guys don't plan weddings, but on the whole, much like NPC recruitment, this is something that generally women are better equipped to answer.;)

While we had different food choices at our wedding, the guests made their food choices at the reception just before they ate. I know, different, but it all worked out.

In my opinion I don't think it would be that much of a problem if one person picked one meal and the other person picked another meal. Usually when you send a card that is addressed to two people they are usually sitting at the same table. From hearing things from my friends who have experienced food choices on their invitation usually all the reception hall wants is the count of of each meal. In my experience with a wedding like that what happens is before the main course is served a server usually comes around to the tables and asked what you checked off on your card. I have never heard of reception halls specifically asking what meals all the guests specifially wanting. How was this reception hall taking the count for the meals?

Presumably, every couple or family who is invited will be seated together at the same table. So, say you have a table for six. John wants steak, but his wife Mary and daughter Susie want vegetarian. Also at the table are Jim and Diane, who both want steak, and their son Alex, who wants chicken. The server just brings over three steaks, two vegetarian, and one chicken, and sorts it out on the spot. The idea of indicating in advance what meal you want, is so that there are enough of each type of meal on hand (and a good catering hall will always prepare extra just in case).

We solved the problem by serving a meal with both chicken and steak. Vegetarians and those who kept kosher were offered pasta (we didn't have any guests who kept so strictly kosher that they wouldn't accept a vegetarian meal).

I was once at a wedding where there were three options for dinner (chicken, fish, pasta) but we weren't asked to specify what we wanted on our reply cards - instead, someone came around and took our order. That meant they had to have enough chicken AND fish AND pasta around to anticipate everyone's wishes - and I imagine a lot of food went to waste :(

Well I guess I forgot to mention this part. The reception hall had this thing they did as part of the wedding package. They had enough servers for each table so that each would stand behind a person with their meal covered with a silver cover (or whatever those are called) and in unison they would set the plate in front of you and lift off the cover. The bridal party got served first and it made quite the impression when they did it. For the rest of the tables they did a few at time but in different corners so they had to know in advance who was eating what, otherwise it took away from the grand entrance of your food. What they had asked the mother of the bride to do is to somehow mark on the inside of the place cards which meal each person had requested in addition to a copy of the seating chart. What the mother of the bride ended up doing was having different stickers (or drawings cant remember) for what the person had requested for a meal so it didnt look tacky and the guests thought the decoration on their place card was part of the whole thing. The reception hall planned their route accordingly based on all this. Thinking back it was a really cool feature of it and no one expected it at all but apparently it was one of the reasons they choice that location.

Yeah that was the other problem, mother of the bride decided that it would be more fun for the kids if they had their own table and by watching them throughout the night they definitely did. It gave the kids from both sides of the family a chance to get better acquainted with them but for the planning cause extra problems since they had to figure what the kids wanted to eat.

I guess it sounds like there were added factors to this wedding that most dont have...hadnt thought of that.

A wedding etiquette book? A freaking WEDDING ETIQUETTE BOOK?

Wedding Etiquette Website!?!?!?

Everyone knows you are gonna get the couple a gift. Who are you kidding. Lets not be super snobbish here.

We did this at our wedding and one of the first questions we asked when they told us about this is, "How do you know that you will have enough of each dinner?" The guy explained it to us and it all made sense after that. He explained that usually when someone gets a choice of food at a wedding they usually go with the most expensive thing, in our case steak. He said that means it is very common for 60% of the guests to order steak, 30% to order chicken, and 10% to order fish. My mom and I told him he might have more fish then that because our family are big fish eaters. He said that is one question that they ask each couple that chooses this option, "Do you think you will have more people order a certain dinner then the 60%, 30%, 10%?" It all worked out in the end and everyone got what they ordered.

No, an etiquette book in general, and it's on wedding websites such as theknot.com Many of the women on here have mentioned it before. It's not about being snobbish, it's about allowing people to get you what they want to get you and not being restricted to what is on your registry.

I will assume any girl you marry will know this or look into it, because it's not typically the men who make the decisions when it comes to the wedding day.

I've only been to one Family-Style wedding reception, and it was in Baltimore. I thought it was very practical (practical, she says! Can you tell that, up until recently, I was planning a second wedding?!) and still non-tacky. I wish they did that around here.

Bobby, you're adorable. For a wedding, shower, put on a suit, treat your date nicely, dance, and enjoy your meal & the (hopefully) free bar! Most of the female sex are raised on the wedding do's and don't's and your date will keep you in line!

I wonder if guys might be more efficient at planning a wedding. We would do some research, we wouldn't be overly emotionally invested in it.

in a few weeks, we could have all the colors, invitations, place, catering etc. neatly arranged.

And more likely than not, the bride to be would hate it.

Lol. Guys like to pretend they can handle the stress, but they'd crack, too.

I think somehow you are confusing what actually has to be done to plan a wedding with fantasy. Add to your simplified version of what it takes: everyone and their mother, sister, father etc...giving their opinions, trying to take into consideration 2 sets of families and what you and your betrothed want, a budget, and logistics into account and I think most men would give up after a few days.

I personally am not emotionally invested in my wedding planning, it is just a day after all- what comes after is what needs the real consideration...but if I left it to my fiance to plan, it wouldn't get done because all of the details would drive him insane as would all of the unsolicited advice.

When I grow up and get married. I'm Living ALONE!

YOU HEAR ME?

I'm LIVING ALONE!