It’s sad, but the days of the sweet bride marrying in the church she grew up in, with the family present that raised her, including their families, seem to be over.
And it’s sad. If we never invite children to weddings, how will they ever witness a wedding and aspire to ever have one of their own?
Our culture is a reflection of what we have wrought: excessive materialism, self centeredness, anti-family values. What else would we expect?
Our own daughter fought us tooth and nail when we insisted that the wedding WE were paying for be attended by as many family members as would travel to the event. In the end, it was a beautiful wedding with all of us together for likely one last time, and the pictures of the children in attendance were darling. No one acted up in any way. She has the pictures now, and looking at those memories gets sweeter every time.
Kids should be included when possible as it is part of their training and it should be a real party.
I suspect that for the author/bride she will find out that the high end reception will be a bigger deal than the ceremony.
The family who put on the wedding I attended put on their own wedding years ago and it as a real blow out reception. No way would I turn down their invitation for the next one.
Our son just got married and it was exactly that. The church she grew up in was a modified movie theater, which is a bit non-traditional, but the renovation was nicely done so it doesn't have the movie-theater feel any more. The wedding and reception were done right there in the church. We're not resigned to it being "one last time" for everyone to get together, since he's the oldest of six. I do realize grandparents aren't getting any younger, but they are still in good health and active in their 80's.