af simchas

we went to a fantastically leibedik wedding tonight. the couple, and the rest of us, should have much nachat, simchah, etc, for a long time...
this probably doesn't reflect well on me, but the real reason i bring it up is not to gush about how lovely it was (which it really was), but rather to solicit thoughts on a practice that sort of disturbed me. the wedding was in a well-known hall where I have attended many previous weddings. this was the first time I saw people, err, "collecting" at a wedding, though. it struck me as really not ok. i'm not sure if that makes me a grinch.
relatedly, there was a troop of yiddish-speaking young men in army fatigues and motorcycle helmets who apparently come to wedings there regularly, do some shtick (which they didn't manage to do tonight), and ask for money. It struck me that they are the chassidic analogy of the guys who do breakdancing in times square. ;)