“Maybe the pickle fork in her pattern is part of the dream
we all have when we get married…
until then the pickle fork is great for picking the lock
on a bathroom dor (sic)
when the kids lock themselves in.”
~ Erma Bombeck, Nevada Daily Mail, October 7, 1985  

As both the vintage graphic and quote indicate, wedding guests have given — and brides and grooms have received — some interesting gifts over the generations. Some have been expected and some quite unexpected. There are the long-running jokes about the wedding couple receiving a half-dozen blenders or bun warmers, or that hideous vase from Great Aunt Ernestine that lives on the closet shelf except when it’s hauled out and given a place of honor when she comes to visit!

all-free-download.com

To tip, or not to tip: that is the question.
Whether ’tis better in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outraged vendors,
Or simply to bite the bullet and shell out a sea of cash.
~ Parody of Hamlet’s Famous Soliloquy

Of all the etiquette topics that crop up in our lives tipping is one of the most frustrating and confusing. And we Americans seem to have created this tangled web. Many countries, such as Japan and Brazil, do not observe this custom; but it should be noted that some countries that do not observe tipping, per se, do build into their prices a gratuity. Likewise, tipping in the U.K. is not as widespread as in the U.S., although American tourists are apparently influencing tipping patterns there. 

“Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.”
(Enter lovers Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, And Helena)
~ Thesius, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,  Act 5, Scene 1

William Shakespeare seemed to find joy in double weddings, as he wrote about them at least thrice, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night. A double wedding also was the focus of the 1937 romantic film comedy, Double Wedding, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy of the Thin Man movie series fame. And remember the achingly romantic double wedding in Pride and Prejudice? 

Last Girlfriend Fling Before She Wears A Wedding Ring

Unlike the bachelor party, which has been around for centuries, the bachelorette party is a fairly recent development, in line with the Western world’s evolution of women’s equality over the last few centuries (although we women still have a long way to go, baby!). And why shouldn’t women celebrate their last single days just as men have always done? No reason at all.