Replies

PJ, It isn’t only Mormons who don’t have booze at wedding receptions.

When I was a girl (back in the Dark Ages) most wedding receptions were in the fellowship halls of Baptist, Methodist, or Presbyterian churches, and consisted of nuts, mints, wedding cake, and punch (non-alcoholic).

The only people who had liquor at wedding receptions were very rich people who had their receptions at the country club and Catholics, who usually had wine or beer at the K of C hall or the union hall.

Until the 1980’s, this was pretty much the style of receptions all over the Midwest. Large wedding receptions only arrived in the 1980’s, and then drinking became more acceptable even for the Methodists, because the receptions were no longer in the church basement.

Speaking as a former mother of the bride, it’s a very big headache to provide alcohol, because (at least in our state) you are responsible for making sure there is no underage drinking, and that there are no people leaving who will wreck their cars. We hired a professional bartender to make sure that we weren’t liable. And I didn’t drink at all, because I had to make sure things were going smoothly.

There are quite a few Protestant denominations who don’t allow drinking or frown on it, and those would be the Southern Baptists, the Assemblies of God, the Methodists, the American Baptists, and the Disciples of Christ.

Why you seem to think the Mormons are the only non-drinkers is puzzling. Perhaps you just haven’t been exposed to many different Protestant denominations. It’s unfortunate that you slandered them in your follow-up comment, and I think you should consider apologizing.

I am a Catholic convert, so I know the misconceptions people can have on both sides of the fence. But really, your comment was pretty insulting.