Three weddings on three continents in 22 days. With not much in common aside from “pretty much everyone was happy”.

Doesn’t make me an expert, but I’ve had cause/time to think about weddings.

Today’s list: Ten observations about weddings, circa 2015. In no particular order.

1. If you are a guest, don’t be on time — be early. In your seat and settled before the parents of the bride and groom are seated. If you know, in your heart, you are a person who tends to be late … plan to get there an hour early.

2. Brides appreciate when friends and relatives come to their wedding, particularly if it is being held some distance away. Conversely, being human, brides tend to miss those who did not come — especially if the absentees earlier said they would.

3. If you have any religious leanings, consider clergy to officiate the wedding. They can organize their thoughts, have public-speaking experience and add gravitas to the event.

4. Test the sound equipment before the wedding, both at the altar/arbor/gazebo and in the reception hall. A mic going dead is jarring.

5. The age of the people at the reception will largely determine if it is remembered as an exciting one, or one that is sedate. “Younger” are far more likely to get up and dance.

6. Better to do a wedding-on-a-budget well than to overreach and do a bigger one poorly.

7. The brides who delegate jobs and planning seem happiest.

8. A hosted bar — beer and wine is enough — is likely to increase the conviviality of the crowd. A glass or two of lager or pinot for the attendees, especially during that hour of dead time while photos of the wedding party are being taken, will make for a far more jovial group at the reception. Besides, making your guests pay at a party you are hosting is just unseemly.

9. As someone who is not part of the wedding party … better to leave a bit early than stay too late … and better to overdress than underdress.

10. Weddings remain the human event most likely to be associated with joy. Way ahead of holiday parties, baptisms, confirmations, retirements … Still the champion.