Insp. by the wedding threads...What was your wedding like?

[Danauk]

We had a traditional English wedding in the church that my parents and Auntie got married in and where I was christened. It was quite a family and friends do which made it nice. Firstly I looked in shops for a dress but couldn't find one I liked so I designed my own. A friend of the family was a dress maker, but unfortunately she was ill at the time. However she insisted that she make my dress (I went to school with both her sons from the age of 4 - 18 and her eldest son was in my husbands class at university) and my two bridesmaids dresses. My best friend from schools mum is a hair dresser so she did my hair and the bridesmaids. Another friend is a flower arranger so she took care of that, my mum is a cake maker so she made the cake and my uncle is a church organist so he played for the ceremony. My husband teaches music at high school and his school has the most amazing musicians. 15 of them got together to sing songs whilst the register was being signed.
On the wedding day I was driven to the church in a white Roles Royce and after the wedding we went to the local Hilton hotel for a sit down meal for 100 people. In the evening we had a buffet for 150 guests. At the evening celebration my inlaws provided some dancing as they are have a traditional English folk dance group. Then as myself and my husband as musicians our friends put together a rock band to play in the evening.

This happened 6 years ago on Sunday. I think my bridesmaids looked nice (even though I made them have flowers woven in to their hair which took ages to get out!)
On a slightly sad note though, my dress was the last ever dress my friend made. She died from cancer a year after my wedding

 

[QJ411]

Originally posted by monkeyboy
Preacher, me, her, her dad and his shotgun

hee hee, must have been a beautiful wedding!

We had a wonderful wedding, it was fun...my 21 y.o. best friend was our ring bearer (everyone got a good laugh out of that) we had 3 bridesmaids and my DS as Maid of Honor. Two flower girls, we had our wedding in Dec. so they wore red dresses, I don't think the dresses were ugly at all, they were quite beautiful.

I'm Chinese and DH is Italian, but we followed my family tradition and I gave my girls pink chinese dresses to change into during the dinner (Chinese tradition for the bride to change from your wedding gown to chinese dress during dinner...don't ask why...I just do what I'm told )and the girls looked so beautiful!

We had a great time!

 

[I Intrigue You]

I love reading about everyone's weddings..

I got married 13 yrs ago to my highschool sweetheart. We were married in a Methodist Church with my Grandfather officating. I had 4 bridesmaids, 4 groomsmen, 2 flower girls & 1 ring bearer. My attendants had matching pink dresses with huge butt bows and oh my! you should see the pictures I swear I could have had aqua net sponsor my wedding, we were sporting some huge hair After the ceremony we had a nice buffet dinner.

All in all it was a beautiful day the only bad thing that happened was the cake but that is another story all together.

 

[2MuchOhana]

In one word STRESSFULL! We didn't know until the day before our wedding if "his" parents were going to show up. When they did we went through the ceremony waiting for them to object! Thankfully they didn't cause a scene. Needed to find a new bridesmaid that would fit the dress when "his" sister backed out of our wedding. Also, had to find another usher when "his" BIL also backed out. Grateful we at least had a month or two to do it.

Anyway we got married in the church I went to all my life. My sister was my maid of honor and I had three other bridesmaids. Yes, they all wore matching teal colored dresses; but I thought they were pretty. I love peach colored roses so I needed to find a color that would look good with that. The guys all wore black tuxes. My colors were peach, aqua, teal and white.

Our reception was at a local Country Club. We had a very nice buffet dinner; though I was to stressed out to enjoy it! The cake was one of the best things of the day! It was yummy!

It wasn't the wedding I had always dreamed about! I feel so bad saying that since my parents tried so hard to make it that way. I wish I had better memories of what is so suppose to be one of the most special days in your life; but unfortunately I don't. The pictures prove that, too.

However, I did marry my Prince Charming that day and the Love of my life. So, I guess that is all that counts!

 

[Kirby]

We had a church wedding 23 years ago with about 125 in attendance. Three bridesmaids and groomsmen. I made my dress using a Vogue pattern. A long time neighbor friend made the bridesmaids dresses. They were an off the shoulder cream with a pink rosebud pattern polyester cotton tea length that could be worn to church or out for a night on the town. The groomsmen wore cream colored tuxes.

I wanted bright (hot) pink and white flowers in the church but the florist disagreed with me and gave me white and pale, pale pink flowers. By the time I saw them it was too late to refuse them. We did get the darker pink in our bouquets and boutenierres.

The best man (my DH's brother) didn't try on his tux and the hems of his jacket and pants had to be let out.

My husband dipped me when it came time to kiss me.

Had a plain reception, no grooms cake, no coffee, just wedding cake, punch, nuts and mints. My cake was off centered enough that the top could only be put on long enough to take pictures.

My art teacher from junior high took our wedding photos. Got 150 for $150. Great deal!

We left our reception and went to a steak house where we thought my husband's side of the family would meet us for dinner (a number of them were from out of town and didn't see each other often). After an hour of waiting, we gave up and proceeded with our meal. We found out the next day that there was a rip roaring fight amongst them all at his parent's house so that's why no one showed up. You can say that our wedding will never be forgotten.

Cost of the whole she bang: $600

 

[CyranoJones]

We had a very small intimate wedding at a friend's home. It was just what we wanted and it turned out perfectly. The weather could have cooperated a little bit more...there was an ice storm in RI on 3/21/81. But everyone made it safely and we had a great party after the ceremony. I only stayed in my wedding dress for about 2 hours because we needed to make a trip to the hospital to see my "adopted" mom.

My daughter is planning on getting married in a couple years (although some days it sounds like it will be sooner). She is talking about a more traditional wedding out of respect for her BF's family. She sure is full of surprises. She has already picked this gown as a style she is interested in. Oy vey!!

 

[Lyn-CA]

I'm usually lurking on these boards but when I saw this topic, I just had to reply. I love sharing the story of our wedding to anyone willing to listen. My other favorite topic of course is WDW.

A little background: DH & I got engaged in Puerto Vallarta in 1996. On New Years Day 1999, we decided to get married on New Years Eve 1999 at the Marriott in Kauai, Hawaii. At first, our wedding planner was ‘too busy’ to help us but luckily she got transferred and then we got the best wedding planner you could ask for. He was SO good, he could easily work his magic at WDW.

It was just me and my hubby in Kauai and then we had a reception two months later back home with family. We showed them the video before we fed them. ;-)

Anyway, the day itself was wonderful. The ceremony was scheduled at 4 PM. We had a meaningful ceremony, followed by a private dinner in one of the gazebos overlooking the pool. Later that evening, we danced the night away at the New Year’s Eve ball, complete with live band. At midnight, we were out on our balcony watching the New Year’s fireworks.

If we had to do it over, we wouldn’t change a thing.

In the future though, I would love to renew our vows at…wait for it…WDW!!!

 

[Aimeedyan]

We got married 2 years ago, at our home church (where we met). We had about 150 people attend, 7pm ceremony, and it was candlelight only.

My BMs wore bold plaid gowns by Dessy, they rocked. They all LOVED them, and still wear them. Totally a-typical BM gowns. GMs wore black tuxes, silver vest. Groomswoman wore a strapless black gown and carried a bouquet. FG wore a deep purple gown with the plaid from the BM gown as a sash. My gown was strapless, simple, cathedral train. I wore my GGGrandmothers tiara, and my mom made my veil from her veil material. My RB pillow was made from her wedding gown.

All the flowers were bright gerbera daisies. I carried a mix of pinks and reds, BMs and groomswoman carried all red, MOH carried bright pink. We made them ourselves, just handtied.

For 30 min prior to ceremony, we had a powerpoint slideshow running of growing up pics that we set to our fave love songs. DH and I made it together and it still makes me cry to watch.

I was a Minister to Children at the time, and my children's choir sang "In This Very Room" as the Call to Worship. MOH and Best Man sang "I could Not Ask for more" the congregation sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" following the congregational candlelighting (instead of a traditional unity candle), and they did a responsive reading affirming our marriage. Very moving. My sister sang "All Love Can Be" during the candelighting. Its the love song from A Beautiful Mind. My godfather and our college minister were co-officiants.

We had a traditional Baptist reception in the fellowship hall, but I ddin't mind. Big receptions are rare here. We catered our own dessert reception, along with my kickin' bridal cake and his guitar shaped grooms cake. My cake was lopsided and multi colored, right out of Dr Seuss. Designed it myself =) I decorated the tables myself, and served punch out of huge jars (stole from martha)

I had 12 house party members, 2 guest book attendents, 2 ushers, 6 BMs, 5 GM and 1 Groomswoman, 1 FG and 1 RB.

It was perfect, and we did it all on a budget without cutting anything we truly wanted!

I wish I could post pics... I have several, but I can never get it to work. Will snapfish not work on here?

 

[JVL1018]

We had a 4 pm wedding at our Presbyterian Church-big white gown, tuxes for the guys. 5 bridesmaids, 6 groomsmen--matching dresses that we loved then(October 1992)-but looking back now-not so much! LOL
My BIL read the Love is Patient reading from Corinthians-ceremony was over by 4:20.
We took pictures at the park next to the church, and then on to our reception. Cocktail hour from 5:30-7, reception with a sit down dinner from 7-12. It was beautiful-big dance floor, lovely atrium area for the head table.

 

[WDWLVR]

We'll be celebrating 14 years this October. Full Catholic Mass in the church I grew up in. 3 bridesmaids in green satin/velvet (two of them wore them to Christmas parties that year so they got extra wear) I was in a traditional long white gown and DH was in a morning coat.

We then had a sit-down reception for 150 served family style and after dinner had lots of fun on the dance floor.

I still watch my wedding video from time to time and cry each and every time. We've lost so many wonderful people since then, especially my mom.

The day after the wedding we flew to WDW for our Grand Honeymoon at the Grand Floridian. It was wonderful!

 

[GeekChic]

lol...so i found a lovely little chapel in kissimmee.

brandie i bet we got married at the same chapel!!!

my first wedding was a nightmare for me; my (now ex) acted like he was the bride, and wanted to plan everything. way too many people, stiff religious ceremony (i was in a stiff religion!) and borrrrrrrrrrrrrringggggggg reception, (yes, it was boring and it was my wedding!) now we dance, now we eat the cake, blah.

for my second wedding (it was my husband's first) i swore i would never again bow to what family wanted! he and i both wanted to elope but since he's an only child, we knew we couldn't. So, we had the best of everything: we got married at the Wedding Chapel of Kissimmee (carol is SO great! i was wondering how they fared in the storm this past week we had 18 guests from 5 different states; everyone was thrilled to be in FL with us!

We had an morning wedding and a luncheon at the Grand Floridian Cafe; they were good enough to create a special menu for us with three choices for our guests, desserts (no wedding cake but we weren't bothered by that) and tea, coffee and soda. The food was incredible. The luncheon lasted about 3 and a half hours and then everyone changed clothes, and we hit the MK! We kept meeting up and splitting up and we had a blast; this was also a great day for my dd who was 3 at the time.

We met up for dinner at CRT: everyone was so full from lunch that they snacked mostly but the atmosphere was fabulous! Fairy Godmother was in the lobby and spent a lot of time with our guests and emptied all the fairy dust out of her pockets and into my hands with her wish for a long and happy marriage for us

After we were all stuffed again, we watched FITS, and then bid our guests goodnight. the MK was open till 12 that night (memorial day weekend) and we handed the lil one over to my parents, and stayed in the park till closing!

It was a very unique day, our guests still talk about it and it was a wonderful way to do a "disney" wedding even though we couldn't afford to go the Wedding Pavillion route. We didn't work with wdw wedding planning at all; we just booked the dinner reservations through Group dining and worked with local businesses on the rest.

the trickiest part was getting the marriage license! DH was in a different state from me taking finals at school; we had to hurry literally as fast as we could the day he came home to get the license notorized and fed exed back in time so it would be legal! We barely made it except for a very kind notary at Mailboxes Etc. who stayed open 15 minutes late for us on a saturday afternoon to witness our signatures...he said we caught him in a sentimental mood because it was his wedding anniversary that day, and his wife and he both thought they should stay at the shop a few more minutes to help us out.

It was something I will never forget and the best part is i got to take my prince home with me !!!

geek

 

[stm61]

our wedding was interesting to say the least. Dh's father was a retired mountain preacher who decided he HAD to do our ceremony. It dawned on us we should have made him do a rehearsal when we discovered he couldn't see the words on the page he was trying to read from, definately time for new glasses. He also forgot which son he was trying to marry but, hey, he had 6 of them so I can see the confusion. I'd broken my ankle the wk before and was in a moonboot type thing that would hold no weight at all. I was balanced on crutches in the front yard with the cows looking over the electric fence, I kid you not. Being the ungraceful person that I am, I had visions of me in a dress with the crutches, falling flat on my face with the dress up over my head. Ditched the dress and ended up in jeans when Dh refused to wear a suit. When we discovered FIL needed new glasses, SIL came off the porch to help. She ends up argueing with FIL over the words on the pg and retreats to porch. Dh trys to read the words himself and FIL ends up announcing to everyone "if this ain't a hillbilly wedding I don't know what is"! I think Dh married himself because I never said a word during the entire ceremony! Somewhere during the ceremony my ds, almost 4, gets mad at Dh's niece, 14, who's teasing him. He kicks her, she trys to hit back, he runs straight into Dh's niece, 16, who falls over my niece, 20 months. The baby is now screaming, the other kids are fighting, and my MIL is yelling "shut up ya'll". BIL got the whole thing on video. One of these days I'm sending it into America's Funniest Home Video's. Other BIL and MIL did the catering. BIL had borrowed a huge punch bowl from work. SIL manages to drop it, punch included, in the middle of the living room because other SIL didn't realize she was behind her and stopped short so she wouldn't fall over first SIL's baby on the floor. New fight over who's paying for the bowl. Good thing we got married the wk before at a friends house by a judge without telling FIL. (we lived in SC, FIL was in WV, we couldn't get WV's blood test done) There were about 50 people there and aside from the 4 I was related to all of them were related to dh. Great way to meet the inlaws and make a good impression!

 

[MI mom of 3]

Ours was 18 years ago. We had a traditional Catholic wedding in the afternoon. The most interesting part of the wedding was that the priest forgot to have us exchange rings. We got to the end and he was introducing us, in the video you can see our best man tell him by the way he jumped. We exchanged rings while everyone was laughing. DH's name is Blake, the priest was from the Phillipines and kept pronouncing his name Brake.

The reception was in the evening, at the Knights of Columbus hall. We had 260 people. We had a DJ and a buffet. We went cheap on the trappings so we could have all of the people that we wanted.

I had 5 bridesmaids and 5 groomsmen. Plus a flower girl and ring bearer. And yes I dressed them all alike, in royal blue no less. At the time I thought they were beautiful, now not so much.

Plus when we got to the hotel for our wedding night we were given our keys, head in, open the door...surprise!!! there is someone asleep in the room!!!

Oh, we also left the cake topper, guest book, and toasting glasses in the trunk of the limo, luckily we managed to track him down.

I think we used up all of our bad luck on that one day. We've had relatively smooth sailing since.

 

[Disney Doll]

Almost 13 years ago now...October 5th. I wore a traditional white bridasl gown, girls in teal(which all but one of my SILs said they liked)...there were 9 of them. Men in black tux...there were nine of them, also. That was the only thing we did sort of "big". 200 people, Catholic church, very typical wedding Mass, reception at a local banquet hall. Great band...friend of my DH's family and they did a great job! We sitll actually have people tell us that ours was the best wedding we'd ever been to. Rained like a monsoon...oh well. My mother's and a friend of my DFIL's cars both got stolen out of the church parking lot.. DFIL's friend was recovered by then time the Mass was over, having been in an accdient that caused $16000(yes that is thousand!!!) worth of damage! My mother's was found the next AM, about $1500 worth of damage.

 

[MelessaG]

In a few words, a huge compromise in order not to offend DH's family or mine that ended up being nothing Dh and I wanted. We already agree we are doing it 'our way' for our 10th anniv. and are hoping for a vow renewal and second honeymoon at the Yacht and Beach Club at WDW.

 

[Beast fan]

DW and I got married 10/21/1995 at a Methodist church in Rochester, MI. Yes, the bridesmaides had to wear those "ugly" dresses (I think they were black tops with teal below).
The Minister (now retired) was/is very conservative in his beliefs on how a wedding should go. His 4 basic rules...........
1) Wedding gown must cover the shoulders and no "V" neckline.
2) No photography/video taping of any kind during the ceremony (audio tape recording was okay).
3) An usher was required at the back of the sanctuary "to guide late arrivals to an appropriate seating area".
4) Anyone with alcohol on their breath was NOT permitted to take part (stand up) in the ceremony.

Pretty strict, it seems. We dealt with the Minister's rules okay....
1) DW is equally conservative and her vision of a wedding gown matched the minister's.
2) No photography/video taping during the ceremony meant we were able to have a friend (who does wedding "shoots" on weekends) was able to actually enjoy the ceremony and not have to follow us constantly.
3) I had (now deceased) a dear uncle who (because of his social standing) had several colors of tuxes in his closet. He was thrilled to be a part of the ceremony and it didn't cost anyone.
4) First wedding ceremony my brother has taken part in SOBER.

To tell you the truth...... I have always admired that minister for his conviction and frankly, DW and I never rolled our eyes at his rules.

 

[Kay7979]

My first wedding, I was still a teenager, and it was a small church wedding with dessert reception in the church hall. This was typical for my church in that era (early 1970s). My husband was killed in a car accident about 6 years later and we had a wonderful marriage so I am very happy we married young and had those years together.

When I married my present husband in 1997 we were married in my 1860s home, with immediate family only. We had been involved in Civil War reenacting and liked the Victorian era, so I had a Civil War reproduction dress complete with hoopskirt and petticoats and DH war a suit from the era. Our best man and maid of honor also dressed in period clothing as did the minister and his wife who were fellow Civil War reenactors. DH's father is a minister so the two ministers shared the ceremony. The ceremony was done by candle light and oil lamps. We had a professional photographer, we also videotaped the ceremony, and we had a catered reception in my formal dining room. Every year on our anniversary we watch the wedding video, which is followed by footage from our honeymoon in WDW. It was the perfect wedding for this era in my life and it was very romantic.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

There is some land on a mountain that has been in my family for about 100 years. I was told stories all my life about relatives I love living there (my Dad was born at home on that mountain), what they had to do to pay the taxes in hard times etc. I just love it and always wanted to get married there - so I did

My aunt built a beautiful brick home there and we were married in a large gazebo outdoors on a summer evening. My attendants wore matching tea length dresses and although now I see them as dated to that time (10 yrs ago) I don't think they were hideous. DH wore black tux suit, his best man, father and grandfather wore their dress Navy uniforms.

There's a large flagstone courtyard in front of the gazebo with a fountain. That's were the guests sat and where our reception was, also buffet. My aunt and uncle were scurrying to get the landscaping all in and done before the wedding. We put tiny white lights in the trees and we had baskets of flowers and white tulle everywhere. The day before when we were doing all this decorating I noticed a bucket sitting on the courtyard but didn't move it and didn't think too much about it. During our reception my aunt and uncle made a presentation. They had etched our names and "married here, July 9, 1994" into a piece of flagstone and had it laid into the courtyard - that's what they had been hiding with that bucket!

My wedding was small and intimate (neither of us lived in this state so most everyone had to travel there) although we still dressed formally. I guess there were about 50-60 people there. It was beautiful and perfect to me. The only glitch was that the videographer told me about another surprise when I was getting ready before the wedding. She said "I just love the horse and carriage" and I didn't know about that. She felt so bad but I didn't let on and did a pretty good job of acting surprised when we turned to walk back out of the courtyard after being married. There was an old fashioned open carriage waiting for us. Just to take us on a romantic tour down a dirt road through the trees - and a good photo op. Then the kids all took turns going for rides.

Sorry this is so long but do I have a great family or what?! If my scanner wasn't broken I'd show some pictures.

 

[MomofKatie]

Dh and I were married in 1991 at an Antebellum home near Atlanta- ceremony outside at the gazebo, and reception inside.

The week before the ceremony, it was 97 degrees and HUMID! I was so stressed about what the weather would be like. But, the morning of the wedding dawned clear and bright. A cold front had passed through, and the high that day was in the low 70's, not a cloud in the sky and luckily, low humidity.

We had five bridesmaids and five groomsmen. The dresses were tea-length Sarah McClintock poufy dresses- big puffy sleeves, big puffy bows on the butt, big puffy skirts. They were white w/an ivy and hot pink floral print, and the girls wore Sam & Libby flat ballerina shoes. Instead of bouquets, they carried baskets of flowers. Boy, can you tell this was an early 90's wedding? But, I still sigh with happiness every time I look at the girls' pics- they looked soooo cute!

I had on a floor-length, hoopskirted Sarah McClintock cream dress. It was the same design as the bridesmaids dresses- big butt bow, puffy elbow length sleeves, etc. I looked like a big cupcake- even had the veil with the big "pouf" sticking up in the back! DH looked divine in the traditional morning coat w/tails in dove grey, and charcoal trousers. He had the vest and ascotty-type tie, too.

The reception was a traditional Southern afternoon type- heavy hourdoerves and punch. We had champagne for the toast, and the cake was pretty, but didn't taste good. I didn't even get to see the room where they set up the buffet tables, but DH camped out in there and ate meatballs while well-wishers congratulated him LOL! I didn't eat until later that evening- Mom packed a picnic basket at the reception for us.

All of my friends thought I'd be sobbing through the whole ceremony- I am a real crier and I've cried at every wedding I've ever been in. But I never teared up at all- guess I was too excited about actually getting to marry my sweetie, I didn't feel like crying! He teared up when he started reciting his vows, and that almost got me going, but the minister said something funny, and the moment passed.

It was a great wedding- not too small, not too big. About 90 guests. We didn't spend too much of Mom and Dad's money, and thirteen years later, we are still going strong!

 

[Pooh93]

Dh and I were married in 1993 at a Catholic mass. My best friend was my matron of honor and only attendant. She wore a tea length emerald green dress, that she picked out. I wore and ivory dress. We had a reception of about 150 people with a band. It was a great time and the reception flew by! We stayed the night at a hotel and then headed to the airport for our WDW honeymoon! Pretty basic.