Guest discovers couple chose not to 'waste good bubbles' for 'tacky' wedding toast.
While there might be a few people on every wedding guest list that barely made the final cut, it's wedding etiquette 101 to avoid making it obvious...
So, when a shocked and horrified wedding guest decided to vent to the gloriously petty 'Wedding Shaming' group of Reddit about a champagne-related horror story, people were ready to hear every juicy detail.
I'm sure the champagne was lovely...
Years ago, me and my husband went to the wedding of one of his high school friends. Everything seemed normal enough. I didn't know the bride at all, but I knew the groom and the rest of their high school friend group casually.
Seemed nice enough, so I was happy that all the 'school friends' were seated together at one large round table at the reception.
I'm not much of a wedding person but I actually enjoyed hanging out at that table, it very much had a 'kids table at thanksgiving' kind of vibe compared to the rest of the tables which were mostly older family members. (I was 22 at the time).
The bride and groom entered, DJ handed them a microphone after introducing them. And then the groom gave a speech thanking everyone for coming and thanking his Father in Law for the crate of french champagne he had provided for the reception.
Then went into long, exhaustive detail about how the Father in Law traveled for work, how he had visited the vineyard, how he had hand-picked out the champagne, deal with customs etc etc.
This speech went on for awhile, and then the Father in Law took over the mic. He thanked the groom for thanking him. And then went on to provide FURTHER detail about this champagne.
How costly it was, 'educating' us on how it was only really champagne if it came from the Champagne region of France and how we all had only ever had sparkling wine before. How he was happy to provide this taste of the good life to start his baby's marriage. Dude went ON.
Then the bride took the microphone and instructed us to thank her father for providing 'the lovely bottles on your table.' There was some scattered applause as the wedding party sat down. Which is when my table noticed that every table had several bottles as part of a frilly centerpiece...every table but ours.
I figured they mis-counted when making the decorative centerpieces. No biggie. I thought it was pretty tacky and arrogant to make such a freaking deal about having bought champagne (seriously they treated it like he brokered the trade deal of the year) but whatever.
Waiters began bringing out meals, and one staff member was just going from table to table popping open a bottle and pouring flutes of champagne for guests. Then it was time for the speeches. And after every speech, everyone was instructed to raise their CHAMPAGNE in a toast.
They really did make sure to emphasize that it was a Champagne Toast, a Proper Toast with Champagne, etc. By the third speech the groom was pointing out that if people had finished their bottles, waiters would be happy to refill their glasses all night from the bottles kept behind in the kitchen.
The champagne was set to flow all night. So everyone at my table asked the passing waiters if we could get a glass...and were denied. It wasn't until long after the wedding that we found out that Father in Law and Bride didn't want our group invited at all, and that inviting us but not 'wasting' the good bubbles on us was the compromise.
Apparently we were written off as not worth inviting because we wouldn't bring good gifts. I regret getting them that blender to this day. Also note they didn't bring a gift to my wedding.
Here's what the jury of wedding shamers had to say about this beautifully bubbly blunder...
vetinthecity said:
That is so rude that I am beyond shocked you invited them to your wedding after that.
squirrelfoot said:
That is just jaw-droppingly tacky!
keket87 said:
Holy crap that's terrible. You can buy French Champagne, but you can't buy class.
BlackDogMagPie said:
I went to a friend’s dry wedding but the bride and groom were drinking champagne in front of everyone. It was a DYI wedding in a vacation rental a two hour drive away and the bride and groom had roped all their friends and family for help and freebies (wedding cake and catering and set-up).
My boyfriend and I got chewed out several times leading up to the event and the day of because of the bride’s and her family’s expectations. They were all major narcissists on a budget.
headbandqueen said:
My eyebrows damn near flew off reading that they did not give you guys at least one glass. These explanations rival some info at wine dinners I’ve been to. And those events are ABOUT the wine.
FantasticPear said:
I'm in ChamPAIN after reading this.