<p>My parents have attended weddings of Polish Catholics where the cash is pinned onto a bride’s dress or put into a small bag that she carries.</p>
<p>Similarly, at Cajun weddings cash is pinned to the veil or dress of the bride in exchange for a dance with her. I just came upon an old Louisiana newspaper clipping from the '80s I had saved showing the sweetest picture of a bride dancing with her grandfather, five dollar bills pinned to her veil.</p>
<p>We attended a Polish Catholic wedding in Grand Rapids, MI back in 1980. There was a dollar dance, which I’d never seen before (or since). The bride was very beautiful and very good natured, so her bag was stuffed!</p>
<p>There was some sort of money dance at a Bavarian wedding we attended 20 some years ago. None at any wedding I’ve been to since.</p>
<p>When I got married the women I worked with (in NYC) weren’t familiar with buying wedding presents or registry, only cash, so they had alot of questions about that. The consensus among them was “Well, if that’s what you want but a cash bride makes out alot better!”</p>
<p>the Minnesota weddings had dollar dances! (last year,and three years ago)
I should specify, this was rural type towns,not Minneapolis.
Pizzagirl, i should have been more specific abt the midwest…the chicago wedding i went to was much like a NY one, except the gifts were displayed at the brides parents home where an out of town reception was held.
Years ago, we attended an out of town wedding in suburban Baltimore (Towson) where only punch and cookies/cake were served.we were so hungry afterwards we stopped for pizza all decked out in splendid wedding attire (husband was in bridal party )</p>
<p>Dollar dances, with the maid of honor and the best man collecting dollars for a short dance with the bride and groom, are very common in the rural Midwest. It’s also fairly common for the couple to open gifts at an informal brunch the following day with family members in attendance. </p>
<p>And I also remember as a child, going to weddings at which gifts were opened (by appointed people other than the wedding couple) at the reception and then displayed on tables at the reception. I’m guessing that custom ended by the end of the 1960s?</p>
<p>Yesterday I asked my Ds (ages 13 and 16) whether they pictured their weddings being in our church sanctuary, church chapel, or some other place like a beach or Disneyworld. I was relieved when both said they had never thought about or pictured their wedding at all.</p>
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<p>I grew up in the Detroit area–parents were Croatian immigrants. Almost every wedding of a relative was held in a banquet hall (e.g., Elks Lodge) where there was a table displaying presents. (Mine was an exception because I eloped the first time and had a very small wedding the second time.) Recently, I’ve gone to two family weddings (one in Cleveland and one in Dayton) where the bride’s family hosted a brunch (the day after the wedding) for guests in the family home. There, presents that arrived early were on display and the bride and groom opened the presents that guests brought to the reception during the brunch. Currently, I live in New England and have been to three weddings in the last year (children of friends) and never saw a gift displayed at the reception or at a brunch after the wedding. Don’t know if the difference is a function of geography or social class.</p>
<p>I recall reading in old etiquette books how to set up a proper wedding gift display. They would instruct the bride to only display one place setting of their china as an example, that they didn’t need to display every one they received, etc.</p>