American woman sparks transatlantic debate as she unpicks the cultural differences between British and US weddings

An American singer set to wed to her British lover has unpicked the intriguing differences between UK and US weddings.

Mariel Loveland took to social media to discuss her thoughts on the culture clash between a supposedly typical British wedding and one in the United States of America.

The singer, who lives in London but grew up in New Jersey, admitted that her and her partner had had 'a couple of fights' over aspects of the wedding.

She told viewers of the differences with guestlists, food and even who pays for the drinks.

The video begins with Mariel, who is wearing an orange strapped crop top, saying: 'So I'm getting married in a month and I'm marrying a British guy, and oh my God, I had no idea how different British weddings are from American weddings.'

The singer, who lives in London but grew up in New Jersey, admitted that there had been 'a couple of fights' over aspects of the wedding between the pair

She went on to explain the biggest differences she's noticed:

'One - a British wedding is like two separate parties. You invite your close friends and family to something called a wedding breakfast, an earlyish dinner.

'You just sit and have your fancy dinner, after that you have a second guest list, which would include people you're less close to like your distant cousin, your colleague, your parent's friends - they come to the evening reception.

'That's when the DJ starts playing hits, everyone starts drinking the hard stuff and things get lit.'

To us Britons, this concept is very familiar - however, Americans have a whole different idea of how the guest list should work.

The singer continued: 'Now, at an American wedding, you could not invite someone to just half the wedding, I don't know what would happen if you tried.

'But we serve dinner at the same time that like the party is happening, so you could have the joy of getting blasted with club music while you're trying to eat your overcooked chicken -  I'm not really a fan.'

Mariel went on to explain that the next big thing was 'cash bars' or 'open bars' in the UK.

Mariel went on to explain that the next big thing was 'cash bars' or 'open bars' in the UK

She adds: 'People would riot (in America) if they showed up and had to pay for their drinks.'

She said: 'In the UK, a cash bar is normal. Our caterers didn't even offer an open bar package, it just didn't exist.

'Now, I know that's common in like the middle of the United States, but where I'm from, the New York City area, cash bars are almost unheard of and I'm so aware that alcohol is often the largest expense for a wedding.'

She adds: 'Here, it’s more common to get around it by not hiring a bar or bartenders, buying bulk alcohol like Bottle King and people mix their drinks like you would at a normal party.'

'People would riot (in America) if they showed up and had to pay for their drinks.'

She jokes: 'I guess I’m just jealous that British people get to do that and their friends and family don’t talk trash about it.'

Moving on, she addresses cocktail hour and food being served alongside it.

The video has racked up an impressive 360k views, 14k likes and over 2k comments

Mariel says: 'I think this is specific to the New York City area. The cocktail hour at the weddings I’ve been to have had an absurd amount of food. It’s basically like dinner number one.

'At the same time, people are drinking mass amounts of hard alcohol. At a British wedding, you have welcome drinks and a normal amount of food.'

Mariel took to social media to share the video on Thursday (August 10) with the caption: 'I had no idea how different weddings are in the UK compared to the US, until I decided to marry a British guy.'

It's racked up an impressive 360k views, 14k likes and over 2k comments.

Commenters were baffled by the cultural differences and couldn't decide which options they preferred.

One person wrote: 'If we had a prepaid bar in the UK it would become a competition.' 

While another said 'the concept of a rehearsal the day before baffles me, like what do you need to rehearse? now you've walked down the aisle twice, makes it less exciting.' 

Someone said 'the concept of a rehearsal the day before baffles me, like what do you need to rehearse? now you've walked down the aisle twice, makes it less exciting'

Praising American weddings, one viewer added: 'Wait what, so in America your guests are getting a free meal, they get FREE DRINKS AS WELL???? That's insane!! Also forgot the buffet on a night.' 

People were also quick to add the nuances of Scottish weddings into the equation.

One person wrote: 'At a Scottish wedding you have to include a ceilidh at the reception. Fun, mental slightly dangerous dancing fuelled by booze.' 

Another added: 'An open bar here in Scotland would literally bankrupt you! We gave people 5 drinks before and during the dinner, then it's on them.' 

Mariel even made two more videos due to the demand of people asking questions in the comments, speaking more about cash bars and then about dress codes - explaining that in America, women can wear full-length gowns to weddings.

Whereas in the UK, you would get some funny looks if you turned up in a floor-length ball gown as a wedding guest.