I was reading through some blogs this morning and came across a recent post from "KiwiRia" about Etiquette Hell and some things she'd found there that mystified her. For instance, she didn't understand why people would think that it was bad etiquette to open gifts during the wedding reception. Neither do I!
I've read about this "breach of etiquette" before, and it always irks me-- perhaps because we opened gifts during our wedding reception, and I don't think it was "tacky" to do so. In fact, it was expected that we open our gifts there in front of everyone so that the guests could (1) watch as we first saw what they had given us, and (2) admire the gifts from everyone else.
Personally, I might rather not have had to open them at the reception, because I'm fairly shy and rarely welcome an audience. There was also that pressure you feel to make sure everyone sees that you appreciate their thoughtfulness. In this case, that meant lots of smiling with cheeks that were already sore from hours of constant grinning! ;o) However, not opening the gifts would have suggested to at least some guests that we didn't care about their presents.
Anyway, I hope that somehow, some way, someone who's trashed a bridal couple simply because they opened the wedding gifts toward the end of a long reception will read this and-- if not feel ashamed of themselves for their own rudeness-- at least have a change of heart and realize that this practice is traditional for many people. It's certainly not a "wow! look at all those presents! gimme gimme gimme right now!" thing, for most of us. We're simply fulfilling the guests' expectation and showing appreciation for their generosity.
