congratulations or best wishes

[Ju]

Bo has just got married.

1. Should we say congratulations or best wishes in person to her?
2. Is there any differences? Someone said we should say best wishes but not congratulations.


Ju

[bhaisahab]

Bo has just got married.

1. Should we say congratulations or best wishes in person to her?
2. Is there any differences? Someone said we should say best wishes but not congratulations.


Ju

You could say either, I'd be more likely to say congratulations.

[Bennevis]

Felicitations!

[SoothingDave]

I was taught not to congratulate the bride. You may wish her well, or good luck, etc.

The implication being that congratulating the bride can be understood that she had difficulty finding a man and that she finally "won."

[Barb_D]

Indeed. Traditional ettiquette, which is rarely observed, is "best wishes" to the bride, and "congratulations" to the groom.

Miss Manner wrote a funny column on this once, and just as Dave said, you don't want the bride to think you are saying "Thank goodness you were finally able to land a man!"

Truth be told, I say "congratulations" without thinking of this very often.