To think that Millennials / Gen Z have sucked the joy out of weddings?

When you go to a fab wedding venue, like a stately home, a museum, a classic hotel or somewhere even more interesting there is loads to see and explore! I went to a wedding at a boarding school once and it was incredible. And a couple at Oxford uni there was loads to explore. Oh and one at London zoo! You tell me some village hall is more interesting than that 😂😂

And as for childfree weddings, I wasn’t on a guest list until I was about 11, back in the 80s. Funerals were for 16+.

Why do you need anything to explore or do? It should be about spending time with the bride/groom/wider community and celebrating.

Millennials aren't "old people" and gen z certainly aren't!

I planned my wedding on hitched it was god awful (and resulted in some godawful wedding looks too!)

apolgeis all I’ve realised I read this as millennials and gen X ruining weddings. I don’t think gen Z are particularly getting married in big numbers, they’re between 13 and 28 years old!

Anyway it’s us oldies who are into posting photos in social media for the likes. Gen z barely go near meta

I think social media has maybe made some aspects of weddings less realistic - the florist who did my wedding (2017) said she dreaded being shown Pinterest boards of floral arches/huge walls of roses that simply aren’t possible in the UK, or for less than £50k. I showed her a photo of my gran’s wedding in 1937 and said, A bouquet like that, please, and she seemed quite relieved.

I’ve been to some crap weddings in village halls/ garden marquees/ other cheap venues. People have run out of drinks, water, glass hire, food etc. the acoustics haven’t works for the music. There has been nothing to explore or do
what should there be to do at a wedding or explore where?

I know a wedding that was child free in 1972, that snot a new thing

Getting married during covid was such a blessing in disguise for us. 30 guests and nobody was offended because it was the law. We had a lovely day.

I'm smack bang in the middle of the millennial age bracket and couldn't agree more. And from posts on here it just sounds like it's got worse than when people my age were marrying. We cut our cloth to suit the guest list we needed to invite rather than offend all our nearest and dearest. Everyone was invited to everything on the day and no children were excluded.

25 years ago there was an awful website for brides to be called Hitched where people bored on about favours and debated the merits of child free weddings. I don’t think you can just blame the Millennials for bad taste, low fun weddings.

I’ve only been to Millennial weddings and they were all (minus the one below) inclusive and fun! Never been asked to go abroad for any of it, all local to where people lived (which wasn’t local for me but it’s common that people don’t all live in the same town anymore)

Only one was a child free event and it was a GenX/Millennial partnership so also doesn't fit your narrative

There were definitely unflattering bridesmaid dresses in the ‘80s!

OI! less ageism if you please!

Most weddings aren’t like this, it’s just nobody posts a thread about a normal wedding and if they didn’t it wouldn’t gain enough traction for you to come across it. You see wedding stories like these because the behaviour is so outrageous/ unreasonable the threads end up popular. Also bear in mind that not everything on the internet is real, no doubt OPs exaggerate or even make up stories like this some of the time so the post is more popular.

I don’t think GenZs or Millenials as a whole are any more awful when it comes to weddings than previous generations, it’s just in the past there wasn’t a forum to post about the awful behaviour of brides and grooms (or a place to make up elaborate stories and portray them as truth either).

Gen X here and seen things you have mentioned years ago

Child free weddings were definitely around in the 80s. Family members of mine had them

I went on a few abroad hens in the late 90s/ early 00s with my fellow Gen Xers

One trend I have seen with younger parents is being hesitant leaving their child to attend events such as this. In my friendship groups local babysitters will be used, family will travel to where we are in London to babysit to allow couples to go to weddings etc.

Whereas I see on here people not wanting to leave their child with anyone else until they are nearly in secondary school. No shade on this if that’s your choice but it’s not my experience of parents in real life

I married 25 years ago (long divorced) and had one of those cheap and cheerful village hall type of weddings. We had a church wedding because it was the church where i had been christened and where my parents married. My dress was second hand and I did the invitations and flowers myself, with my mothers help, apart from the bouquets for me and the bridesmaids which were fine by a florist in town. We had some people come in the evening for a disco with a DJ my brother knew.

None of it was what I wanted and everything was imposed on me by my family.

Village hall type weddings are not the panacea and my one regret is that I did not stick to my guns and have the hotel that we wanted for the whole thing on the north coast of Cornwall. I look back now with nothing but depression and I’ll never get another chance.

So good on those brides and grooms who know what they want for their day and arrange it so they get it.

My least favourite are hotel weddings, it all just feels a bit soulless and over polished. The best ones have been where there is outside space and sunshine!

It is though isn’t it. Stood in the corner with pursed lips like Bridget jones mum stage whispering “it’s all a bit SHOWY is it liz?” “I heard they put the honey moon on a credit card” “well I heard they took out a loan” “the brides a bit ROTUND for a line, don’t you think?”

I wholeheartedly agree with you. It's all for social media clicks. And as for those hideous balloon arches.... tacky as TOWIE!

laughing at "old people"

I’m 33, id hate one of these 30k professional weddings with everything matching etc. give me a village hall and some kegs of beer anyday!

To add, often pressure about weddings comes from parents.

Personally i find weddings increasingly tedious, difficult to work out whether they've become worse or it's because my alcohol consumption has dropped over time..

It's social media. Ups the ante and everything being done for appearances. Plus 2 decades of cheap debt allowed the wedding market to get out of hand.

A much younger family member got married pre covid and their proposal was over the top. Involved an Italian cruise, researching a restaurant in Florence, buying a special box to present the ring and hiring a photographer to capture the moment. They haven't got any money so the whole over elaborate affair presumably went on credit. Wedding was lovely though and very well thought out.

I notice baby groups seem even more neurotic than my day (and 15 years ago we were pretty neurotic!).

Late stage capitalism. What can you do?

You’ll always see the worst ones online. The vast majority of weddings are completely fine.

It massively pre dates social media.

i sort of groan a bit when people say the best wedding they’ve been to was in some village hall. Really?

I’ve been to some crap weddings in village halls/ garden marquees/ other cheap venues. People have run out of drinks, water, glass hire, food etc. the acoustics haven’t works for the music. There has been nothing to explore or do.

Conversely , the best wedding I went to was at claridges. What a once in a life time experience.

I also generally have a better time at the weddings I’ve people I’m closest too, regardless.

i think OTt hen parties and favours etc have always been a thing- at least for the last 20 years. What I think is the worst part is people who don’t have much money trying to get that day cheaply- so there is always an overarching anxiety about money both on the day and the stag and hens, it’s poorly hosted because there is so much anxiety and not enough hosting skill, and money is wasted on pointless but cheap things that people think add value to the day, like favours or a chocolate fountain.

basically OTT weddings are a bit pre Covid, so I guess in that sense you’re right it’s quite gen z/ millennial ie old people

I got married at 25 and we had a cheap village hall type wedding. Loads of food, cheap drink, music, dancing. It was FAB! we did have a photographer but mostly in the background kind of thing.