Everybody has heard a good wedding joke. There are jokes about nervous grooms or ditzy brides, honeymoon jokes, best man jokes – just about any part of a wedding has a few jokes attached to it. Some people may wonder, however, if any of these jokes are appropriate enough to tell at an actual wedding.

It is not uncommon for people to make jokes at bridal showers and bachelor parties. In fact, people are expected to make jokes at these occasions. Good natured jokes at a bridal shower usually center on the honeymoon and some of the more “risqué” gifts that the bride may receive, such as negligees or sexy underwear. At bachelor parties, jokes are usually about marriage itself – with the groom’s friends ribbing him about taking that “big step” and asking him if needs them to help him escape. All of these jokes are part of the fun of the man and woman celebrating their last few days as single people, and usually nobody takes them seriously.

The actual wedding ceremony is seldom the time for honeymoon or “escape” jokes. These kind of wedding jokes don’t seem as funny when the bride and groom are standing at the altar, and usually the bride and groom and whoever is performing the wedding ceremony refrain from making them. This doesn’t mean that the bride and groom should be completely somber, however. It is perfectly fine for the official who is performing the wedding ceremony to make a very light joke to perhaps ease the tension that the bride and groom are feeling, as well as set a positive tone for the wedding. Small jokes about saying vows correctly or not forgetting the wedding rings usually go over well, and keep the bride and groom and their guests smiling and relaxed.

Many times people who are making toasts at the wedding reception will throw in a few jokes in keeping with the celebratory mood. People who are making toasts to the bride and groom should be careful about any jokes that they tell, however, and try to use good judgment. Joking about the groom and one of his old girlfriends is in bad taste, and it would probably embarrass both the bride and the groom. Joking about the honeymoon, however, as long as it is in good taste, is usually okay. Many times when the best man is making his traditional toast at the wedding reception, he might tell stories about the groom and what he was like in his bachelor days before he met the women who would become his bride. These stories can often be pretty funny, but in keeping with a light joking mood the best man probably shouldn’t tell any stories about the groom that the bride doesn’t know about yet. This could cause some problems!

Most people know when a joke or funny story is okay to tell, and when it is not. The problem with some wedding receptions, however, is that people are usually drinking, and sometimes this can lead to people behaving in ways that are a little less than appropriate. Stories can get more elaborate and raunchy, and jokes can get a little too off-color. It is usually hard to police a wedding reception well enough to keep everyone from drinking too much. If someone drinks too much and starts telling inappropriate wedding jokes, somebody from the wedding party, or a friend or family member of the bride or groom should try to remedy the situation by talking to the offender, offering him or her some coffee or some food, or perhaps even getting him or her a cab.