Oh, so the groom's parents pay for it. That's fair enough then :-) But your statement seems to gainsay Tom's.

Hhhm. Nowadays most couples live "over the brush" for a while, are usually older and independant of their parent, so parental money doesn't usually come into it. Or so I'd thought the situation over here at least is.

>Rehearsal dinners are fairly common. They came about because typically the bride's family covers the outrageous costs of the wedding, so they wanted the groom's family to take some kind of hit too ;)
>
>
>>Hi Tom
>>
>>>I think that you will find wedding rehearsals are not common for the majority of Americans. It is a good way to waste television time.
>>
>>I didn't think they were common - just odd - and probably the reserve of the upper middle-class - doctor/lawyer parent families with a spoilt daughter.
>>
>>>
>>>Too many Americans have no concept of what marriage is. For some women it is the wedding, which is instilled within them from the time they can walk and talk. For men it is different. A man gets married and then on the first Monday of the week he goes to a sports bar with his buddies to watch Monday night football, and then poker of Friday. He forgets his wife so he can enjoy his premarital days.
>>
>>Now you really ARE highlighting the TV stereoptypical US husband! You forgot "Fight Night".
>>
>>>
>>>The emphasis’s put upon some weddings in this country can be horrific. Who will run the affair? The mom or the bride? Who will attend? Where will they sit? The list goes on. Little thought is given to the marriage – it is all about the wedding.
>>
>>It's similar over here. I've seen the most frightful bride, got up like a pox doctor's clerk, spending 1000s and 1000s on her "special" day, even when they haven't really got two ha'pennies to run together.
>>
>>>
>>>My wife and I had a very simple church wedding when I was in the Air Force. On December 30th we will celebrate our 41st Wedding Anniversary. I would not change one moment of our marriage.
>>
>>My mother always used to say to me "Just slip out in your gymn shoes ... as long as you make sure I'm invited". IOW don't go for a big event.
>>
>>>
>>>There was a western movie and television star named Roy Rogers, ...
>>
>>As if I didn't know who Roy Rogers was! - "Roy! ... Before you go ... give us a song!"
>>
>>>...who was asked on December 31, 1993, what made for a successful marriage. Roy Rogers said, “Marriage is 80% give and 20% take”!
>>
>>80% of your paycheck - just leaving some booze and cig money! :-)
>>
>>>When you are married to someone who thinks that “It is all about me”, or “50-50” you will have a problem.
>>>
>>>Trying to learn about the customs of people in other countries from watching television programs is not always the best way to understand others.
>>
>>Oh sure. But the concept keeps cropping up and I was biting my @ss to know what it was all about. That's why I ask you real Americans
>>
>>>Just be sure that you purchase the products being advertised as that is what television is all about. The content of television is often of little or no value. That is why they call it “the cultural void”! :)
>>
>>That's why I mainly watch the BBC channels, or listen only to BBC radio - no ads!
>>
>>...