In essence, the bride and groom's wedding party is really a formal gathering held by the bride and groom's parents, and most of the guests that arrive may even be strangers to the bride and groom.
On Friday, Brennan and Clapper returned to the forum, an annual gathering held by the Aspen Institute far from Washington to foster bipartisan consensus regarding national security.
One Saturday morning not long ago, Markowitz attended a coffee-and-dog-biscuits gathering, held by a group called fido, which stands for Fellowship for the Interests of Dogs and their Owners and meets once a month in Prospect Park.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was spotted at Friday's gathering held by a group known as the Compact of Mayors, highlighting efforts in some 360 cities worldwide to reduce carbon emissions.
But why did they pick the Christmas gathering held by colleagues of Farook, who worked as a health inspector for San Bernardino County?
Of the many events on Monday honoring the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the gathering held by the Rev. Al Sharpton in Harlem was one with a wide audience and a narrow focus: the toll of gun violence, from a parking lot in Tucson to the streets of New York.
The choice is between the Westchester Chorale's reading under Daniel Paget at the Asbury United Methodist Church in Tuckahoe -- call (914) 725-7597 for more information -- and the gathering held by John Daly Goodwin and the Westchester Concert Singers at the United Methodist Church in Pleasantville.
In a September piece despairing the lack of festive gatherings held by people born roughly between 1985 and 2000, parties are on their way out due to the general social malaise caused by changes in technology, diets and rent. .
Federal employees could no longer accept "gifts of free attendance" at the many seminars, receptions and other social gatherings held by registered lobbyists and lobbying organizations as a matter of course in Washington.
These took place under the slogan "The caliphate is the rising force", and coincided with similar gatherings held by branches around the world.
