Thanks, Jessica. I was wondering whether or not to post that as well.

ETA: re: Ellis Island!

BWAH!

However, I do agree with Jessica's non-Ellis Island post.

ETA: re: Ellis Island!

Heh -- I was wondering if you'd clarify.

Some look back a generation or two until they find a name that is present in both family histories and use that one.

This is what my friends whose MA wedding I went to with Jen K in August did -- going back 4 generations, they both have Woodberrys in their family trees, so that's the name they're going with. They're both keeping their birth names professionally, but as a private couple they're a whole new/old thing. Bonus: Both families loved the name and the ancestors and were sad that the name had died out, so both families are totally delighted and it's been an easy and friction-free transition.

No garter, no bouquet toss (aside from liking mine, it had a sterling-silver base and could probably have taken someone's eye out if tossed wrong -- or tossed right, depending on one's level of bloodlust and dislike for one's wedding guests, but we had a lot of Buffistas who were fully deserving of both their eyes), no cake smash, no money dance.

It's not a wedding reception until the Electric Slide has been danced.

I'm afraid the best we could come up with was a conga line to "Rock The Casbah."

The bouquet toss skeeves me.

"Here's my virginity!"

"Hooray!!!!"

I prefer to think of it as:

"I hereby release my finding-a-loyal-and-loving-partner-ma into the wild, with a side of throwing-a-kickass-party-with-cake-ma!"

"Hooray!!!!"

Tom, that's a tumor.

kat p brings the vintage RIO funny.

my lunch today was totally unsatisfying.

Oh, re: my 'virginity tossing' skeeve... I might do it anyway since tossing flowers is just cool.

The winter Wedding Martha had a toss bouquet which was a bunch of little flower bundles tied with a ribbon so when you throw they go everywhere. That I might do... give my virginity to everybody.

Um...

I'm afraid the best we could come up with was a conga line to "Rock The Casbah."

Man, that was a fun wedding.

I think of it every time I hear the Snoopy song.

I thought that was an urban legend.

It may be for cultures that used family names, but until 100 years ago in most of Scandinavia, common people did not have family names but followed the tradition still used in Iceland where men have the name Firstname Fathersfirstnameson and women have the name Firstname Fathersfirstnamedottir. Usually people were known by these two names and the name of the farm or village where they were born. So what happened at Ellis Island was that the immigrant generation name for the men was frozen in time (Svenson) and assigned to their wives and children, or people chose the name of the farm or village where they were born (Stordal). A few people chose the name of someone famous or the name of the local gentry back home. But they had to choose something.

Yay for shrift giving notice, and we should totally have a party. I'll bring the dip.

David, your employees suck major ass, and you are being a much better person about this than you need to be.

Raisins do not belong in other foods*. They should be eaten alone, or thrown away.

• Except maybe trailmix.

I prefer to think of it as:

"I hereby release my finding-a-loyal-and-loving-partner-ma into the wild, with a side of throwing-a-kickass-party-with-cake-ma!"

"Hooray!!!!"

Re-defining traditions is great. Like so many others (particularly with weddings), its the original notion that seems icky to me now.

toss bouquet which was a bunch of little flower bundles tied with a ribbon so when you throw they go everywhere.

My florist friend called those cluster bomb bouquets.