I have been in the United States for over 6-years now… I have been to several weddings, and even recently a funeral; the only baby shower I attended was thrown by a French girl and was more a of party than a traditional girly thing and I had never been to a wedding shower… until today.
My friend Marialana is getting married in May, and will probably have a more traditional wedding than any of my other friend had, or would have… And the festivities started with the Wedding Shower (a.k.a Bridal Shower).
When I received the invitation a few weeks ago I had to do a little research, I didn’t want to break the etiquette (which I ended-up doing inadvertently). A few things to know:
The wedding shower is a surprise. However it seems to me that if you’re getting married, you should, at least, expect it to happen…
The wedding shower is all about gifts. I gasped when I got into the room and saw the amounts of gifts sitting on the floor. Mine was not there (of course), because it got shipped directly to Marialana’s address… You would think that I know how to work an on-line wedding list… and you would be wrong.
The wedding shower will feed you. Or maybe that’s because it was an Italian family throwing it, and when you deal with Italian families you should always expect to be fed… Kudos to the Eggplant Parmegian
The wedding shower is long. Even if punctuated with cutesy little games, the “presents opening ceremony” can compete with the Academy Awards in lengthiness… Odd actually that they’re happening on the same day…
The wedding shower won’t let you leave empty-handed. Yeah… I got a gift too!!! By the way, the sugar-coated almonds in the white pouch with the little roses are the exact same that would be given in my (Italian) family. A little pinch in my heart here.
All in all, it was good to (barely) see Marialana, and to spend some time with girlfriends that I don’t see often enough. But really, we shouldn’t wait for one of us to get married to see each other… Although, now that I understand better the tradition, I’m up for more, and without “faux-pas” this time. Who’s next?