Tell me about your wedding

calico2222

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Our wedding was fairly big and pretty traditional. We invited 180 guests, but some of course didn't show. We got married at the same church my parents got married in and I was baptised, made first communium and got confirmed in. That was a must.

The entire wedding probably cost around $6000 but looked more expensive. Let's just say Ebay got a lot of business from me! I got all the flowers (my bouquet, 4 bridesmaids bouquets, all the boutiniers for DH, 4 grooms men, uncle (who gave me away) and ring bearer, corsage for MIL plus 30 candle rings for the reception) from a vender on Ebay for under $350. My invites came from there, all my favors, my bridesmaids jewelry, the gifts for the groomsmen....great deals! Our cake was locally made, 3 tier with 6 satelitte cakes with fountains, for $125. Even my dress was on sale. I got the dress, veil and tiera for less than what the dress originally cost.

The most expensive thing was the reception. We were going to rent a hall and do it all ourselves but we saved so much money on everything else we were able to splurge and have it fully catered at Holiday Inn. It was SO nice and stress free! We served alcohol, but it wasn't an open bar (but we did pick up the tab for the bridal party and MIL...over $400!). We did purchase a few kegs of beer so the guests wouldn't have to pay for everything!

DH helped me a lot with the planning, but he kept suggesting using the money to go to Las Vegas and get married there. Guess who won!
 

natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Josh wanted to get married in front of god SOON and then have the reception when we can afford it. I prefer to wait to afford the whole thing at once. Plus I remind him that he hasn't even proposed yet so he can't be going around planning to be married soon
If you love each other, and he's talking marriage, isn't that a "proposal" on it's own? Why does it have to be the standard on bended knee "will you marry me?" type proposal for you to accept?

It sounds like he loves you and wants to marry you. If you love him, go for it


Originally Posted by Trouts mom

If Josh had his way, it would be this summer!
Crazy boy.
Why is it crazy to have a wedding this summer? If you love each other, why wait?

My cousin Harvey met his wife (Helen) through a friend. Harvey and Helen were so taken with each other that they talked several times a day and saw each other every single day for the first week.

They thought they were moving way too fast so they decided to put the brakes on for a while. Both moped around for a week, absolutely miserable. Finally her friend and his friend told them that they should just admit that they were in love and just go with the flow. So they did.

A week later they were married! Yes! Married! They've been together for 40 years now and still act like newly weds. I've never seen a couple more compatable with one another.

Marriages aren't about how expensive your dress is, how many people are there, how much money you spend on the hall or flowers or food. It's about the 2 of you.

My niece has been married for 12 years. Her and her husband Bruce went on a holiday to Barbados (I think), and got married on the beach with some of the hotel staff as their witnesses. The pictures were incredible, and the most important thing is that they are together and happy. When they got back we had an informal gathering at a lovely restaurant to celebrate. Family and friends were invited to attend, but while the bride and groom's meal was picked up by her father (my brother), everyone else paid for their own meal. There was about 50 people. It was wonderful.

If you love each other, I don't see the point in waiting months or years to make an official committment on paper because it seems like the "normal" tradition to do.

Use the money you save on a wedding for a wonderful holiday, or as a down payment on a house, or put it away for in preparation of when you have kids
 

theimp98

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well, i was out in the jungle sleeping in a hut,
when 6 half naked men with spears and blow guns, jumped me, hog tied me, to a pole.

how swinging naked tied to a pole in the middle of the night may sound likefun let me tell you its not.with thoughts of head hunters and being someone lunch running though my mind. We arrived at the edge of mt.merapi( a active volcano) where i was told, i had a choice

1)get married
2) become a sacrifice to the volcano.

how i am sure being tossed into the volcano would not be as bad as getting married. My first thought was only of the the Environment, i am sure i would cause bloackage in the mouth of the volcano and cause it to blow up again or at least give it a very bad case of indigestion. So out of my love and caring for the environment and my follow humans,

i agreed to get married.

at least that is my story and i am sticking to it
 

starryeyedtiger

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I just got married back on March 29th. We had a church wedding with about 100 people in all.


It was pretty traditional- we did the unity candle ceremony, several Bible verses and pieces of poetry, traditional baptist vows, a rose ceremony (that's a newer thing- i got SOOOO many compliments on it- everyone loved the idea behind it!) and we closed with the breaking of the glass at the end of the ceremony to honor my Jewish heritage. It was such a pretty ceremony. (i actually have the whole thing words and all printed up if you wanna see it).

We had our reception in one of the nice rooms at the church so we weren't allowed to have alcohol. But to make up for it- i had a gourmet coffee bar instead and catering. It was soooo deliscious we had "wedding gown lattes" and soo many other thing the guests could choose from- it was great!

We didn't do a band, instead we did a dj. One of the guys Colin works with does that on the side so we got a great price. We had an organist for most of our music during the ceremony and that was nice too.

I am a lisenced florist - so i did all of the flowers for the reception and my amazing friend Regis did all the ceremony flowers (to save myself a little stress/time!) They turned out lovely.

All in all it cost a little over $12,000 for the rehersal dinner, wedding, and honeymoon - in the South, that's considered "cheap" if you can believe it- most of the weddings down here are massive with 10+ bridesmaids/etc and they spend a holy fortune
His parents gave us 10,000 and we coughed up the rest.

The biggest expenses were the photographers and videographers- but those are the things you do NOT want to skimp out on. You get what you pay for! Also- flowers are super important to me- so i paid to have mine professionally preserved by a good friend of mine in the floral industry- that's one of those things that matters a lot to me and that i will cherish for a life time- so to me- it was something i wanted to splurge on and find other ways to cut back in things that didn't matter as much to me.

I cut costs massively with me doing 1/2 the flowers - that saved a lot. I also saved money by doing an afternoon wedding vs. an evening one- after 6pm- dinner is custom so if you do an afternoon wedding you can get away with finger foods/etc and save money that way. I also saved by getting my wedding dress when the store had a huge sale.

We bought our invitations online but we printed out our RSVP cards and our Programs in similar colors to cut costs. Everyone thought they looked great and we were able to save a little $ that way!

I bought my toasting gorgeous crystal flutes at Garden Ridge for $2
(vs paying much much more for the "wedding ones" ) if you should around you can really save.
We got married at my sister's church - so the pastor gave us the member rate- and that saved us well over 1/2 the cost of the venue!

We did offer child care by a lisenced provider for the parents- they all really appreciated that and they liked being close to their kids but also being able to enjoy the ceremony and reception. That didn't cost us much to do that -but everyone seemed to really like that we offered it.

We rented the table cloths rather than buying them. We only did 6 large 90" round tables for people to sit at since it wasn't a full course sit down meal and then we lined the rest of the room's walls with chairs for everyone else to sit at and mix and mingle- that saved on the cost of table cloth rentals and also allowed more of a dance floor.

We skipped out on an isle runner because the floor of the church itself was a gorgeous green marble and was soo pretty on its own we didn't need to cover it up. We also only did one massive urn of flowers/crystals and one unity candle flower piece and that was it for the church because the church was soooo amazing with its stained glass windows and wooden arches- we didn't want to take away from its own beauty by going overboard. Using only a few pieces saved us a fortune!

Also, we went through pre maritial counseling so when we went to get our marriage lisence, instead of paying close to $100 they gave us a counseling discount and we only paid close to $30 (every little bit helps!).

I also cut money by not having a wedding planner. Since i had done quite a few weddings myself as a designer/florist - i was pretty familiar with what to expect/plan for -so that saved us panicking and money as well.

We used nice paper plates/cups rather than china to cut costs too. Also, we used our own Escape as our "Getaway" car vs. renting a limo to save $.


Also if you avoid doing a wedding during a peak season like Summer (especially June!) then you will save a lot of $ right there!!! Getting married in the off season will save a lot of $!
 

carolpetunia

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Doomed though my marriage was, the wedding itself was really very nice, I thought. Michael and I were members of a choir (mostly non-students like us) based at a private university near Austin, so we got married in the university's lovely old chapel. Our choir's accompanist (the head of the music department there) played the organ and directed four of our friends in the Pinkham Wedding Cantata, a beautiful collection of four choral pieces.

The only light in the church was from the late-afternoon sun through the stained glass, plus a few candles, so all the colors were very warm and autumnal. I wore a Juliet-cap and floor-length chiffon veil that I designed myself, and I must say it was awfully pretty... I've never seen a veil like it.

The reception was in the church's banquet hall, and the university's cafeteria did it for us! They did a beautiful job -- a three-tier coconut cake decorated with real rosebuds, a cranberry-lemon punch from a recipe I liked, and assorted hors d'oeuvres -- nothing fancy or expensive. We had no band, though, and I wish we had... I don't remember why that didn't happen. Goodness knows we knew enough musicians to have arranged it!

The trunk of our car was packed for the honeymoon, but our friends managed to get into it. They hung my frilly pink nightgown from the visor in the front of the car
and poured rice into the sound hole of my guitar. It took years to dislodge it all!

(Yes, I took my guitar on my honeymoon. And it's a darn good thing I did, because it was November on Padre Island, and colder'n Billy Hell!
)
 

pami

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Your weddings all sound so lovely, Im still waiting for my special wedding, maybe someday.

Originally Posted by mews2much

I went to my Sisters Wedding Jan 6th in Monterey. I was a Brides Maid.
Aw my nephew was born in Monterey
 
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trouts mom

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

If you love each other, and he's talking marriage, isn't that a "proposal" on it's own? Why does it have to be the standard on bended knee "will you marry me?" type proposal for you to accept?

It sounds like he loves you and wants to marry you. If you love him, go for it


Why is it crazy to have a wedding this summer? If you love each other, why wait?

If you love each other, I don't see the point in waiting months or years to make an official committment on paper because it seems like the "normal" tradition to do.
Linda, I have no doubt that I will marry Josh. We know we are going to be married and its just a matter of when...its not that I NEED a "proper" proposal, but I just think its so darn romantic.


I had a deprived sort of childhood..my sister was married in her apartment, and my mom was married in a field with only two people there witnessing and no celebration afterward. I feel like I want more than that..I want the celebration of our love to be very special. (not that smaller celebrations aren't special..just that I would like a little bigger of a celebration)

If I had the money, I would marry him this summer. Its the only thing that is in the way because I certainly have no doubts about our relationship. I am so lucky to actually have found "the one" for me. I never realized what people were talking about before


I just think that if we are going to be together forever, why not wait a bit to have the wedding I want to have. Every guy I talk to thinks I'm crazy, but most of the women understand.
 

lillekat

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Originally Posted by theimp98

well, i was out in the jungle sleeping in a hut,
when 6 half naked men with spears and blow guns, jumped me, hog tied me, to a pole.

how swinging naked tied to a pole in the middle of the night may sound likefun let me tell you its not.with thoughts of head hunters and being someone lunch running though my mind. We arrived at the edge of mt.merapi( a active volcano) where i was told, i had a choice

1)get married
2) become a sacrifice to the volcano.

how i am sure being tossed into the volcano would not be as bad as getting married. My first thought was only of the the Environment, i am sure i would cause bloackage in the mouth of the volcano and cause it to blow up again or at least give it a very bad case of indigestion. So out of my love and caring for the environment and my follow humans,

i agreed to get married.

at least that is my story and i am sticking to it
Aamuahahahahahahahaha!!
This is the best laugh I've had all day!!
 

calico2222

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Originally Posted by Trouts mom

I feel like I want more than that..I want the celebration of our love to be very special. (not that smaller celebrations aren't special..just that I would like a little bigger of a celebration)

If I had the money, I would marry him this summer. Its the only thing that is in the way because I certainly have no doubts about our relationship. I am so lucky to actually have found "the one" for me. I never realized what people were talking about before


I just think that if we are going to be together forever, why not wait a bit to have the wedding I want to have. Every guy I talk to thinks I'm crazy, but most of the women understand.
Oh honey, I understand completely! I didn't get married until I was 35, and I was honestly starting to think I would never find "the one". Here, he was right beside me the whole time (best friend for 10 years). We just had to get on the same page at the same time and everything fell into place! Once that happened, I KNEW how I wanted the wedding, and I wanted everyone to celebrate with us. Heck, I even sent an invite to the George Bush, and eventually got a nice card wish us the best of luck!
Yeah, it was a standard "form" card and was stamped but it was still nice. Something to put in the scrap book. (I've also heard of people in UK getting cards from the Queen if they send her an invite).

I think the day is so special, if you have to wait a bit to have the "perfect" day, that is fine. Congrats on finding "the one"! And, don't compromise. I know a few women that caved and agreed to something that wasn't their dream wedding, and while they don't regret getting married, they really missed having that experience. If a traditional wedding is what you want, go for it!
 

kitytize

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My wedding was extemely cheap. It cost about $1200 total. I had it in a church and the reception at my moms. No caterer just ham/turkey sandwhiches with lots of side dishes. A nice cake. Only had around 50 people or so though.

I happen to get very lucky on my dress. My favorite dress, which I still love today, was on sale for only $100. My only regret is I wish I paid a real photographer. I love pictures and I don't have any real nice wedding pictures.
 

mrblanche

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Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Just curious to know for those of you who are married...how was your wedding? Big or little? Expensive or inexpensive? Location? Alcoholic or non alcoholic?

Anything you share would be awesome
Ours was pretty small, less than 100 people there. Dottie bought a dress off the rack for about $100, and we spent about $500 total on the wedding. That would be the equivalent of about $2500 or so now, I guess. Just sandwiches and soft drinks. I think Dottie's dad and her uncles had a bottle out in the car! I didn't rent a tux, just wore a good suit.

We had the usual glitches, but we had a good time, and whether it went right or not, by the end of the wedding we were married!

If I had a daughter now, I'd give her $5000 to elope to Hawaii.
 

wesley's mom

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Most of my wedding is a blur but I can share what I remember.


We had close to 200 people at our wedding. We had it at our church. We had the ceremony upstairs and the reception downstairs so it was nice and easy for the guests.

For food we had simple food. A lot of finger foods like: stuff for sandwhiches, shrimp cocktail, snacks, deviled eggs, fruit salad. We did not serve any alchohol. We had the food at tables and people could get their plates and grab what they wanted to eat. It was very casual. We had it set up with just some tables here and there and chairs around the edge of the room because we were a little concerned about fitting everyone down there. So, people had the choice to sit or stand and it gave people the freedom to walk around and chat with everyone instead of having asigned seating. We just wanted people to feel comfortable. And of course we had cake after a little while.

A lot of the time we were busy with all the photos, but I just my wedding photos! We had a friend of ours do the photos for us to help money wise. She is good at taking pics, so they came out nice.

So, we just wanted our wedding to be easy and comfortable for everyone. We did not bother spending too much time with little details and waisting a lot of money. We wanted to spend as less money as possible and it worked out really nice. We did stuff like make our own inventations and stuff like that. A lot of people helped out with everything. We had friends who did stuff for us like pass our the appetizers on trays and offer people things, my cousin made our cake. Just a lot of things like that really helped us out money wise. We did not have to pay people to do it for us.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to my wedding just to be able to experience it again.


If there's anything else you want to know that I may have left out, just let me know! I will gladly share it with you!
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Just curious to know for those of you who are married...how was your wedding? Big or little? Expensive or inexpensive? Location? Alcoholic or non alcoholic?

Anything you share would be awesome
Exactly which one are you referring to?
 

binkyhoo

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Tiny - Married at the courthouse by a judge (she was nice, too) with just family present and family afterwards for a nice big dinner. Who needs catering? DH's grandmother is a wonderful cook!


And it was perfectly fine by me. Neither of us are religious so we did not want a church and minister, and we don't like big social events. DH, his father, and his mother drank a little. Best of all, no one got me into a dress.


Costs where just for the marriage license and the judge's time.
That sounds like the perfect wedding for me. A trip to the court house and take the family/close freinds out to dinner, which will most likely be a fry out in the back yard.
 

jcribbs

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Your dress is BEAUTICIOUS KITTEN KRAZY.........

But I can beat your price.

We already owned our home when we got married and at the time we had a huge house. So we invited 50 people or so to our house to watch, spent about 500.00 on food and wine, and got hitched. Then we went to louisiana and gambled for a week...... It was my second marriage and by far the best and the last. I was his third.....

It was a blast....

When we left on our honeymoon, there were 50 drunks in our house and we just drove off............... When we came home, they had cleaned the wedding mess out of our house and it spick and span...
 
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