Inspired by wagamama...what kind of wedding did you have?

[CyranoJones]

We had a small wedding at a friend's home, maybe 50 people. We were married by a judge. My friend and I did all the cooking for the party after the ceremony. It was the best wedding I've ever attended, lol. I've been encouraging my daughter to do the same, lol.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Mary, your story is very touching. All of these stories are nice to read.

I was an older bride (32). All I wanted at that point was to be married in the Church. The other things didn't matter much to me, and frankly, if DH and I paid for it, we'd have had our Church wedding and followed it with a dinner at a restaurant for our immediate family.

However, my husband is one of two children, and his parents felt that they should give us a wedding similar to the one they gave their daughter. So they paid for a catering hall reception for 100 people.

I wanted to keep it simple, so for my bridal party, I had a matron of honor (my sister) and DH's sister as a bridesmaid. I bought my gown at David's $99 sale. (It wound up costing $400 after alterations, though.)

The dinner my in-laws ordered was fabulous. They had shopped around a few years before when their DD got married, and picked their second choice for our wedding. We had a lush cocktail hour, multi-course prime rib dinner, and a Viennese hour with the cake.

Everything turned out beautifully, and if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

You know, it is possible to bargain shop for a wedding. Although this was 18 years ago next week, I did pretty well. I walked into a swanky bridal shop the previous December on the first day of their 50% off sale (coincidence). So my $500 dress was $250. My veil was down from $180 to $90. I didn't go with a lot of frou-frou because I was afraid it would be too hot--the only stipulation I had was to have at least netting over my chest, having been to a wedding where the bride had a HUGE pimple or something on her chest with a scoop neckline. DH and I dated 5 1/2 years before our wedding so I had a lot of time to observe and learn from others.
I worked at a florist part-time, and the deal for their employees was $200 off the top of the bill and 30% off of the rest.
We had a hot buffet which is cheaper than a sit-down, but I think we had an open bar. The DJ and the hall were good deals I shopped around for as well. We had 3 girls and 4 guys in our wedding party--BIL and SIL, my sister and her husband, and 3 friends.
It was all very lovely and I need to transfer the video to DVD soon before the sound gets lost forever. Esp. the grand march where I do a huge shot of JD right on camera--the kids will love that! Actually all I had all night was that and a glass of champagne to drink, since I wanted to remember it clearly!
Robin M.