Weddings: What do you remember the most after it’s done?

I got married over 5 years ago. Since then, I’ve attended at least one wedding per year. I’m about to turn into a wedding planner! 😉 Sure I’m joking, but I must admit I really enjoy looking at the details, how different or similar weddings are from one another and how much fun the guests are having! It’s almost a tradition for me now.

Still, aside from the bride & groom celebrating their lovely day and their commitment to be together forever, what elements of a wedding do you remember the most (as a guest), after it’s done?

For me, it’s the food. Maybe because I just love eating great food.

My potato chickpea cake with asparagus

I remember if it’s good, bad, if I felt full or hungry… and whether or not they cheaped out.

I think decoration is nice, their dresses are beautiful, and the venue is sweet… but to be totally honest, the peak of the event for me is what I ate.

I have gone to 8 weddings in my adult life, including mine.

My sister’ wedding was awesome to me. Maybe it’s the alcohol too. 😉 It was in a medieval style room, 4-5 courses meal in the same spirit that all tasted good.

My friends’ weddings are mixed: one had a cold and warm buffet, one was okay food with okay quantity, one was very generous in terms of quantity but not necessarily matching my tastes for the quality and finally one was a lamb barbecue that I was not very excited about first but that finally tasted like heaven. Funny enough, three of these were among the best parties I’ve ever seen!

My brother-in-law’ wedding was amazing, but it was served very late. I was so hungry that I didn’t really take time to enjoy it.

To me, bad food is filler food, like when you boil cheap pasta in huge amounts, and then open cans of tomato sauce on them, topped with some parsley, and call that a meal.

THAT, is filler food; meant just to make you feel fuller, but to cost them pennies.

Just serve me Kraft dinner then.

Bad food also includes overcooked food — I had dried out salmon and veal once at a wedding, and it was so tough, my knife couldn’t slice through it without some effort.

The desserts never seem to be a problem at these weddings (sometimes there are too many desserts), but no one really eats cake or dessert — they go for the savoury stuff beforehand.

To me, it’s almost an insult to serve filler, or overcooked food at a wedding. It’s like telling the guests: Look, everything is really pretty here and just on show. Just like the food.

Never mind that you spent money and time traveling to our wedding, we can’t be bothered to serve you a decent meal.

If you can’t afford a simple, well-cooked meal at a wedding (no need for fancy stuff!), then invite less people, so that the ones there can get a good meal and be happy, rather than having more people at your wedding, but everyone be unhappy.

And think about where you are holding the reception.

Sure, the venue might be pretty, but if there isn’t a kitchen on site to serve hot, freshly cooked food — what the heck are you doing there?

It’s like they care so much about the presentation & image, that they forget about what the guest experiences.

It can look beautiful, but I’d sacrifice looks over taste, any day.

Or maybe I am just too much of a picky, snobby foodie.

I still think that weddings should pay more attention to the food, just to make sure it’s done right, because it’s really one of the only things people remember, other than the actual union between two people.

So what about you?

What do you remember the most, as elements of the weddings you’ve attended?