To think some weddings are basically just corporate mixers for the bride’s dad?

[ChairmanOfTheBride]

There’s a certain type of wedding - very formal, very expensive, very “prestigious”, where the whole vibe feels less like a celebration of love and more like a networking event for the bride’s father. Rows of suits who clearly know each other from boardrooms, not birthdays. Speeches that mention “strategic partnerships” more than childhood memories. Bridesmaids posting for LinkedIn-worthy photo ops. You know the type. I’m not saying every big wedding is like this but AIBU to think some weddings are really just corporate mixers in disguise, with the bride as the event host and daddy’s legacy centre stage?

I don’t move in those kind of circles

I’d like to go to one of these, I bet the wine is good.

not any wedding I’ve ever been to

This is a very niche AIBU

I’ve been to a lot of weddings, and a lot of very expensive weddings, but have never been to a wedding like this.

Have you been to many weddings like that OP?

I feel like this is one of those "meanwhile, in a parallel universe..." type threads!

At least dad probably paid for the day and stuff afterwards like the honeymoon so that his contacts think he’s successful.

How do I make friends with such people 👀😄

Not loads but a few, and they really stood out because the atmosphere was so different from the usual warm, personal vibe. It just struck me how corporate some of them felt, which is why I wondered if others had noticed the same thing.

In idle moments I sometimes wonder about the royal weddings - eg Will and Kate. They had hundreds of people there and I bet they personally knew about 5% of the guests!

Only if daddy is paying

I’m mainly just interested the buffet and maximising the free drink opportunities at weddings. I don’t notice a lot else.

You May very well be right, but I wouldn’t know because I wouldn’t get invited to such events.

No. I’ve been to weddings this year at London’s top venues and whilst the ‘big boys’ will always talk business when they can, it’s really only the reception that’s quiet enough to have any kind of conversation and it really is more family oriented and social than business!

No I don't know the type...

Never been to a wedding remotely like this

Are you only going to huge American old-money weddings in Connecticut or something, because this describes literally no wedding I've ever been to in all my 49 years on this planet.

Are you American? I can imagine that kind of thing there but I don’t come across it in my circle.

I had what most would describe as a very expensive wedding and it was nothing like this.

Same. I’ve been to £100k + weddings paid for by very rich parents but they’ve all been predominantly about the bride and groom and their friends and family. No noticeable business talk.
Are you talking about the UK OP?

No, I’m not American and same, it’s not the norm in my circles either. I’ve just been to a few weddings where the vibe felt unusually business-like, which made me wonder if others had seen that dynamic too.

Yes, I’m talking about the UK. And I agree, most big weddings are centred on the couple and their families. I’ve just been to a couple where the atmosphere leaned oddly corporate and it stood out to me because it’s not the norm. Was just curious if anyone else had noticed that dynamic at all.

I had a little laugh at "You know the type."

Um no, I very much don't know the type. The wedding type I'm familiar with is brown food in village halls, the bride arriving in her uncles vintage jag and aunties dancing to Whitney's classics.

No . Your description bears no relation to any wedding I've ever been to in my 50 years on earth.

You've "been to a few weddings like this ??

Who are you mixing with?
I've never come across a wedding like this in many decades of attending weddings of all sorts of people we know from different areas of our lives.