Italian Football Weddings

You’re probably wondering “What the heck is a football wedding?”  Well it’s a wedding, but it has nothing to do with football.  I will explain later how it got the name “Football Wedding.”

I can only remember attending one as a kid. It was my Uncle Sal and Aunt Celia’s wedding.  This type of wedding was popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s. I don’t know when this kind of wedding was created, but it was fun to say the least.  There were trays of assorted sandwiches which were placed on each table.  The sandwiches consisted  mostly of cold cuts…salami, capocolla, ham and cheese, proscuitto, mortadella, and assorted cheeses. On occasion there would be other specialty sandwiches like sausage, peppers and eggs, etc. There was usually two sandwiches for every type of cold cut on the tray.  When someone ran out of a particular sandwich and wanted another, they would call across the hall. “Anyone have a salami sandwich?” They would exchange sandwiches by throwing them to one another.  You would see sandwiches flying across the hall at any time. You got it…that’s how it got the name Football Weddings.

The bride’s family would rent a hall, tables and chairs. The hall would be decorated by the bride’s family.  The guest list would be comprised of the bride and the groom’s family and friends. Planning the seating arrangement could sometimes be a chore as you had to account for who was not talking with whom.  Italians could be stubborn and could hold a grudge for years.  They would rent a band or someone in the family would play the music.

There were no wedding cakes at these weddings, but huge trays of assorted cookies, mostly homemade.  There was also a big mound of cookies at the bride and groom’s table covered with confetti and sugar coated almonds with a Bride and Groom on top of the mound.  They would also give out favors which were colored sugar coated almonds wrapped in a tulle like fabric bound with a ribbon(similar to the one in the photo)  and sometimes a small plastic wedding ring was attached. There would be bottles of liquor at the table…scotch, whiskey, rye, soda at each table and of course coffee to go with the cookies; sometimes creme puffs. I remember my Aunt Margie (Immaculata) asking me after watching me drink a cup of coffee without any type of dessert.  “How do you drink that coffee without at least a cookie?  How does it go down?”  My mother’s family were big sweet lovers.

There were no gifts when you went to an Italian wedding and that still holds true today, you gave cash.  The bride would have a huge pouch and everyone would wait on line to give their envelope.  When the bride and groom opened the envelopes, they made a list of all the guests and what they gave as a gift.  When it came time to go to someone else’s wedding, they would check the list and give the same amount.  Remember the scene from the Godfather when Connie Corleone is collecting the bootie?  (see side photo) That’s exactly how it was and is.  That movie depicted Italians really well. I sometimes wonder how much my mother would have loved to see it especially with how the movie depicted Italians in Godfather II.

There were no babysitters at these weddings either and the entire family would attend.  The kids had a ball dancing, playing and running around. When they got tired, their parents would place two chairs together and they would lay across the chairs and go to sleep.  There would be chairs lined up against the walls with all the kids sleeping while the adults would party into the wee small hours of the morning.

There is an Italian comedian on YouTube that describes Italian Weddings very accurately when it comes to Italians giving envelopes with cash in it.  The video is only 2 minutes long and worth the watch, especially if you’re of Italian heritage.  Copy and paste the link in your browser  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ8plFxMp40

Once again, I hope you enjoy this week’s blog as much as I like writing them, because it brings me back to a special time in my life.  Until next week.

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