<p>I’m feeling very original. 
I was married in 1985, but no dusty rose. My bridesmaids–my sister and a friend–wore pale yellow linen drop-waist Eileen Fisher dresses, with whatever pale beigish shows they liked. (They actually wore the dresses again, frequently.) The men wore tan summer suits with lineny, finely striped Ralph Lauren ties with a pale yellow background. I would have preferred to go the navy blazer route, but one of my H’s brothers was very strapped for cash and we knew he already owned a tan summer suit, so…</p>
<p>My MIL asked me what my mother was wearing, and I told her “linen,” because that’s what my mother told me. As it turns out, my mother wore something nice that was floral and voile. My MIL wore a very nice linen dress, and was ticked off at me because it cost more than she usually spent. Of course, my MIL would have found some reason to be ticked off, no matter what. 
I’m one of those who has used their MIL as a pattern for how NOT to be a MIL.</p>
<p>We had a receiving line, but we only had 50 guests, and it was in the center hall of our house. (The wedding was in a very small white clapboard country chapel next door to my parents’ house, and the reception under a tent on the lawn, so everyone could walk.) </p>
<p>I don’t know what a “sweetheart table” is, but one thing that bothers me at weddings is not seating members of the bridal party with their SOs. Why not seat the bridal party at one or two round tables with their SOs? Otherwise it isn’t much fin for those fifth wheels! BT/DT.</p>
<p>One of the least pleasant situations I remember was a buffet-style reception where the caterer/planner had persuaded the bride that it would be more “fun” if there weren’t enough seats at tables for everyone so that everyone would circulate. The parental generation grabbed all the seats, and the rest of us were left to perch on flower pots or wherever we could.</p>
<p>The other thing that really ticks me off about most weddings is that there are far more single women than single men, and men in general do not seem to get the idea that they should ask women to dance even if they didn’t come with them. I always prod my H to ask other women to dance.</p>