Wedding breakfast facts for kids
A wedding breakfast is a special meal that people have after a wedding ceremony. It's like a big party or reception where everyone eats together. Even though it's called a "breakfast," it's usually not eaten in the morning, and it's much bigger than a normal breakfast! This name can be a bit confusing today. It's mostly used in places like the United Kingdom.
Why Is It Called a "Breakfast"?
The name "wedding breakfast" might seem strange because it's usually not a morning meal. There are a couple of ideas about how this name started.
One idea is that a long time ago, before the English Reformation, wedding ceremonies often included a religious service called Holy Communion. People who took part in this service would often fast (not eat) beforehand. So, the first meal the newly married couple ate after the ceremony would "break their fast." This meal was then called a "breakfast." However, this idea might not be completely accurate, as the phrase "wedding breakfast" doesn't seem to have been used that far back in history.
Another idea, which seems more likely, is that the name became popular around the 1830s. Back then, a meal called "luncheon" (what we call lunch today) wasn't very common, even for rich families. The main meal of the day was often dinner. So, when people started having a meal after a wedding that was earlier than dinner, they called it a "breakfast" to show it was the first big meal of the day for the married couple, even if it was later in the day. It was a way to describe a new kind of wedding celebration.
Where Is It Used Today?
The term "wedding breakfast" is mainly used in British English. If you look up the phrase in dictionaries like the Compact Oxford Dictionary, it will tell you it's a "British" term. In other parts of the world, like the United States, people usually just say "wedding reception" or "wedding meal."
Sometimes, you might hear the term "wedding breakfast" in other countries that want to attract people for weddings, like Poland. But generally, it's a tradition most common in the UK.
