I've been at one wedding with a money dance--the bride's family was from the Philippines, and I believe it was a custom from her side of the family. At least, I'm pretty sure it wasn't from the groom's side, because his family was Korean, and I've been to several Korean weddings. Anyway, the version they did it wasn't just men dancing with the bride--women paid to dance with the groom, too, and everyone laughed and had a good time with it.

My wedding was tiny--only about 60 guests. My bridesmaids paid for their dresses and airfare, but I let them pick the dresses themselves and didn't have any wild expectations of expensive parties and showers. I gave them jewelry from the same Celtic store where DH and I got our rings--not matchy stuff, but things I thought would suit each one's taste and style. I hope they liked them. *I* would've liked them.

I've seen it described in Lithuanian weddings as well, and I think Albanian. Actually, Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle begins with a wedding scene where guests are supposed to pay for a dance with the bride, and thereby the wedding party makes back its outlay for the wedding reception.

I interupt this wedding talk to say

Hockey's back!!!!!

[link]

Does he have access to the emails? Why are you off today?

The emails are from him, mostly. I only work that job Mondays and Thursdays, so I'll be there in the morning, but there should be no expectation that I'm working there today. As I, in fact, am not.

t fights Scrappy for Stephen Colbert

I'm finding it very endearing that Pope Pius XII had a goldfish named Gretchen.

I'm picturing a dollhouse-sized cathedral, with cats walking around inside dressed as bishops.

It'a cultural thing. Some cultures see it as the best possible gift, as the new couple will probably be putting toward something like a house. In my WASPy family it would be Not Done.

I know it's something that varies widely, so it doesn't bother me anything. But as for my own wedding, my mother would haunt me until my dying day if I expected or let people know I wanted money as a gift.

Thanks so much for the link Robin. I had no idea!

It is estimated that the Money Dance is done at well over half of all the wedding receptions throughout the United States.

It also makes sense that the money is used for the honeymoon...and that the groom gets it too.

That wasn't the case at the weddings where I've seen the money dance. Just the bride...and a lot of the men were very suggestive in with their donations.

It gave me the skeeviest of jeebes.

Maybe I've got money/shame issues to work out...

Now I'm just going to chuckle at the unavailable people sitting on the wrong coast thinking Colbert is theirs.

See! Hec and I are snickering at them.

::links pinky fingers with Heather::

You mean Stephen Colbert, SCRAPPY'S DAILY SHOW BOYFRIEND, don't you?

I heard Colbert was going to be your secret boyfriend until he heard you only got a trim at Frenchy's.