DUers : Your Wedding Stories....

[Catchawave]

In honor of the CNN Runaway Bride, do you have a story to tell? This might be helpful to the future DU Brides and Grooms to be!

Mine: 36 years ago, totally planned by my parents for the society pages, not to mention, a chance to pay back their social committments. Also, High Nuptial Mass, which required several weeks of "pre-marital couselling" with a priest, of course, never married himself (oh the irony). My husband and I haven't set foot in a Catholic Church since...probably the guilt factor having lied to the priest that we were virgins and I wasn't on "the pill". OY.

Weddings "is hard work" and, !!IMHO!!, don't think the stress is worth it. I wish we would have eloped and used the wedding money to buy a house. Other than some cheesy wedding photos, I don't think the memory of this "Big Day" has made our marriage any more or less successful than the average.

Like funerals, weddings are an INDUSTRY rip-off, both related to religion, so I think we need to think for ourselves, outside the GOD Box!

[RockaFowler]

1. My Wedding Was The Best

My future husband & I wanted to get married in December. I've always loved that month in Florida. We were lucky because my aunt & uncle were living in this beautiful condo on Ft Lauderdale beach. My Dad was able to rent their recreation room. It was so beautiful because we were right on the ocean with these huge windows. All of our pictures look like we are on a cruise ship. My Dad & I decided to cook all of the food for the event. I made Lasagna (my Dad is 1/2 Italian) and my Dad made Chicken Marsala (my favorite dish). We bought a beautiful layered cake from an Italian bakery down the street. IT had chocolate mousse in it. Yummy!

Let me tell you, I spent more on my dress and my husband's tux than we did on the rest of the wedding. That's the way to do it. A private ceremony with the people you love.

[mike_c]

2. drive-in window wedding in Vegas....

Unfortunately, the Elvis impersonator was not on duty, so we were married by a distinguished looking elderly woman who admonished the bride for giggling during the ceremony. I received a pair of red fuzzy dice for a wedding present, which I still have, somewhere around here. I gave her a pair of gold colored champagne flutes with "Las Vegas" stenciled on the side, which I found pointedly displayed in the garbage bin one morning some years later. I did not rescue them....

I agree with you about the wedding industry.

[livetohike]

3. We lived together for one year back in 1974

and married in 1975. I made my wedding gown, my sister's bridesmaid gown and a gown for my Mom. I carried a bouquet of wild flowers and wore flowers in my hair.

We had a nice buffet reception for family (my husband's side of the family is huge) in the church hall and one week later a picnic for all of our friends (whom we couldn't afford to invite to the reception).

Thirty years of marriage :-).

[scarlett1]

30. Thats sounds nice

So simple, so 70's the 30 years of marriage is the best part.

[Skinner]

4. My wedding story: Or, how Osama Bin Laden messed up our honeymoon plans.

Some of you oldsters may remember: My wife and I got married on September 8, 2001. The wedding was wonderful, and it went off without a hitch. But we had plans to take our honeymoon in Greece, and our plane tickets were for September 11, 2001.

I was ironing shirts and packing when we got a phone call from my mother telling us to turn on the TV - now! (Everyone else in our family called within the next five minutes.) That was after the plane crashed into the first tower, but before the other plane crashed into the second tower. Soon after, they announced that the FAA had cancelled all flights, so we knew we weren't flying anywhere. Just watched the television in shock.

Around noon, we got a call from our teenage neice, who was so upset and so relieved to find us alive that she burst into tears. That's when we decided that maybe we should just get the hell out of Washington DC.

Put the already-packed bags into the car and drove down to my parent's place in Richmond. The following morning the airline told us that we were unlikely to get another flight for a few weeks. My wife and I were determined not to let some insane homicidal maniac ruin our honeymoon, so we got back in the car and drove to Florida. It seemed like we were the only people there.

On a related note: Those jerks at Northwest Airlines refused to give me a refund or a ticket change without charging a $100 fee, and making me drive to the airport to sign some forms. (The ticket said 9/11 for cryinoutloud!) After arguing on the phone for hours, to higher-and-higher levels of bureaucracy, I finally told them that they were "un-American" and said I was calling my congressman and all the travel magazines. Five minutes later, they called me back and gave me the refund.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

11. Wow-what a story

Under the circumstances, I can't believe Northwest Airlines were being such jerks. The attitude that you describe is part of the reason the big airlines are still losing passengers to small airlines like JetBlue, Airtran and Southwest. Considering that your honeymoon was cancelled by a national tragedy, you think that NWA would have bitten the bullet and coughed up the refund without a hitch.

Congratulations on almost 4 years together! :toast:

[katinmn]

21. Wow. Did you ever make it to Greece? NWA is a greedy corp.

NWA hates to part with a penny.

When a colleague at work (since deceased) was diagnosed with a brain tumor she was immediately hospitalized for two weeks for tests and such. She and her partner forgot to cancel their vacation flight to San Francisco which they were to take a few days after her hospitalization. Understandable since they had a crisis on their hands.

NWA refused to issue them new tickets.

We wrote to the NWA CEO and the Strib travel editor and caused a big stink. After several months they finally gave in. They earned themselves lots of bad will over that $500.

[latebloomer]

36. I hope you had a beautiful honeymoon anyway

though I'm sure it was somewhat marred by the horror.

We were married on September 8, too-- but the year was 1990.

And September 11, 2001 was my husband's 45th birthday.

[AlCzervik]

5. I'll give you one of my favorite memories from my wedding

We are standing in the foyer of the chapel and theres some music playing before we actually start and little did we know the microphones were on, my best friend Tilly is adjusting her bridesmade dress and she says to us "Jesus Christ this bow make my ass look huge!" oh yes, it was broadcast all through the chapel, i start walking down the aisle with my father and the 2 of us could not stop laughing.

[Beaverhausen]

48. LOL!!!

that's funny!!!

Reminds me of attending one of my best friend's weddings. I carpooled with a couple of our friends and we partook in a bit of the herbal intoxicant on the way. We parked on a hill above the house where the wedding was taking place and as we walked toward the house we were very loudly proclaiming how stoned we were.

As we rounded a corner around a tall hedge we came upon the outdoor foyer where the wedding was to take place.
And all the wedding guests were sitting there.
And they were staring at us.
Apparantly they didn't think it was very funny.


:blush:

[gauguin57]

52. I went to a relative's 1970s wedding at which pot brownies were served

at the reception. Needless to say, the guests were in a GREAT mood that day!

The marriage didn't last too long, but that sure was a fun reception!

[Beaverhausen]

59. I hope they served A LOT of food that day

That's funny!

[candy]

6. Blizzard---the orchestra didn't make it and neither did 1/2 the guests---

and we had to pay for all of them,of course.

The flowers we carried were all frozen to death before we got to the reception.

No one could leave the reception until they plowed,so we all left together.

Needless to say a lot of folks did a lot of drinking.

It was a nightmare !

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

7. 2 weddings (1 husband!)

First we got married at Chapel of the Bells in Reno on 8-7-95. We spent about $200, all told, including my dress and bouquet (but not including the ring). We used a Handel CD to supply the music (same music as at Charles and Camilla's wedding). Wedding meal was pizza in the Sands Hotel, and honeymoon was in San Francisco (we were driving from Wichita to San Francisco and got married on the way).

Second wedding was an Islamic nikah in Wichita on 5-11-97. Just a few friends were present. In the nikah, the bride and groom separately sign a marriage contract evincing our intent to marry the other, and it's witnessed by two adult men (two friends of ours did the job). Our friend Siddiqua provided refreshments. We had a reception for about 110 friends at our friends Rizwan and Tahira's farmhouse outside Benton, Kansas in June 1997.

[kedrys]

8. Eloped to get married in a civil ceremony

Dated 3 months, engaged 9 days, married on February 14, $40 plain silver bands, no BS, and we didn't even have to discuss the details, we were so in sync about the whole thing. I couldn't get a hold of my parents for 3 days, but they took it well :) . The s.o.'s family is a collection of spectacularly psychotic bastards, so we don't hang(except for one ridiculously cool uncle), and they didn't find out until much later.

That was 9 years ago. And we're still all :loveya: :)

[Nikia]

9. I was forced to have a sit down meal after the ceremony

We were going to have homemade finger sandwiches, cheese balls, and other stuff after the wedding in the church multi purpose room. When my mother-in-law heard about this, she had a fit. She threatened to boycot the wedding along with all my husband's relatives. Big fights ensued over the next few weeks. I was naturually very upset about all of this.
I ended up arranging a meal after the ceremony at a supper club, which did not open for the public until dinner time on Saturday. By this time, it was one of the only reasonably priced options left which was close to the ceremony location. We had to schedule the ceremony earlier in order to ensure that we could be out of the restaurant by 4:30 pm. without rushing everyone. This also caused fights.
Both sides were upset about the arrangements. His family was upset that we weren't having a big wedding with an elegant reception lasting late into the evening along with a gift opening brunch the next morning and my family was upset that I compromised at all to my mother-in-law.
In the end, the wedding went alright. My husband and I were glad that it was all over by a decent time. I didn't get any time off of work. We went to a movie, which neither of us remember, that evening and went to Six Flag Great America in Chicago the next day.
My sister is planning on eloping.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. April Fool wedding

(no fooling, it took place on April 1)was a Universal Worship service presided over by our spiritual teachers. In the service, the holy books of the Hindus, Bhuddists, Zoroastrians, Hebrews, Christians, and Muslims were placed on the altar, along with an eagle feather (my husband is a pipe carrier in the Lakota tradition). Passages from each spiritual path were recited; we took each other as "the most sacred trust from God". The atomosphere was alive with the Light of God.

We were married in a Middle Eastern restaurant on a Sunday at the beginning of Ramadan. Many of the regular Muslim customers, unused to seeing the restaurant open on a Sunday, dropped in and stayed for the service. The owner's daughter took pictures of the altar and asked for the quotes, telling her father that that was the kind of service she wanted for her wedding. And one old Egyptian gentleman told us "If that caught on, there could be no more war." Those were the two nicest presents we received.

We fed each other falafel and had a wonderful Middle Eastern feast.

[davsand]

34. We were ALSO "April Fool" Newlyweds!

Our choice was partly because I wanted a spring wedding and didn't want it to be too late in the spring to avoid planting season (can't you tell I am a farmer's daughter??)

It was a very nice day. One of the really funny things about my wedding is the fact that EVERY photo of me going down the aisle shows me laughing like a hyena. There is a good reason for that.

We had really exercised out personal tastes in our choice of wedding music. I have ALWAYS loved Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and had chosen the Spring movement to go down the aisle (what ELSE!) Hubby has always loved Handel's Water music, so we chose to go out after the ceremony to a selection from that.

I bought sheet music for the organist, I made a couple of tapes of an orchestral arrangement for her to hear the dynamics--I tried REALLY hard to make it easy for her. If we'd had more money we'd have used a string quartet--but we were poor--ya know? Anyhow, the organist kept on telling the minister how much she loved our music--how it really excited her. The minister mentioned it to us a few times before the wedding.

At the rehearsal dinner, I heard her play it for the first time and it was not at ALL the sound I expected. It sounded like calliope music and it was WAY too hyper. Kevsand and I talked about it and decided it just wasn't worth upsetting the poor organist at the 11th hour by asking for the Wedding March instead, so we let it stand. I was going down the aisle to calliope music.

Just before I made my grand entrance, the calliope music swells to great loudness and speed... My father stops, looks at me and instead of offering some tidbit of marital advice or other life wisdom, asks me, "What on EARTH possessed you to choose this music?"

I literally laughed all the way down the aisle.


Laura

[tanyev]

12. Two weddings:

First one: Even though modest by Bride's magazine standards, still a major pain. My mother: You don't want any flowers? You can't have a wedding without flowers! Future MIL threw a fit when best man's wife (last minute replacement best man) couldn't make it to the rehearsal dinner at her country club. "I already paid for that %#&* prime rib!" That marriage lasted 5 1/2 painful years.

Second wedding: Older and smarter. Told everyone we were going to Vegas and we'd see them when we got back. Had a wonderful time. Will celebrate 3 very happy years in June.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. When we were married, I had known my husband for over half my life...

most of those years never even guessing he would be my husband one day. Both of our lives had been bumpy up to that point. We decided to just pick a day, go to the courthouse, take some pictures at a gazebo, and then have a luncheon with just close family. I made my dress, veil and his boutonniere. I wouldn't have it any other way. It was about the man...not the glossing. 9 years, an adoption, a miracle baby boy, some fights, some illness, much laughter later. I am glad I did it that way.

Our wedding tape is funny. My father is on it...explaining to my brother how I had just recently "wiped out" the entire side of my intended's truck...."I mean she just wiped it out...the whole thing...wiped out..." And a great camera battle between my brother and sister in law...it was a beautiful day. :hi:

[Karenina]

17. OH MY, MrsGrumpy

You two are JUST GO GORGEOUS!!! :loveya:

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. Thank you, Karenina!!! MrG is far better looking than me.

I still can just look at him for hours. He is so beautiful inside and out. :hi: :loveya:

[Bok_Tukalo]

14. Mine

I am now divorced.

The wedding was pedestrian and the reception ordinary. My best memory of the day was after the reception when my wife and I and all our friends went to the park and played touch football. Everyone was laughing and it was almost like TV.

[youthere]

15. Got married twice the same day.

My grandmother (my treasure) was in a nursing home at the time-she'd had two strokes over as many years and was suffering from advanced Parkinsons. When I told her I was getting married she told me she didn't think she'd be able to come. I could tell it almost broke her heart so I told her if she couldn't come to my wedding I would bring the wedding to her. So after the ceremony at the church we packed up everything including the pastor and got married again just for Oma.
I joke with my husband and tell him he better never divorce me since he married me twice, because not only am I entitled to 1/2 of everything, I'm entitled to 1/2 of his 1/2!

[Catchawave]

16. 9-11 affected my kids too !

My 30-something son was so moved by 9-11, but not enough to enlist and go to WAR ! He applied to become an Air Marshall instead, by the time he graduated Fed School, found out girlfriend was preggers with twins! Sigh. On the day he checked into his homebase and started flying, he had to: Put deposit on apartment, move furniture 1,000 miles, get married at city hall, buy cribs and a minivan, upgrade his health insurance :)

I'm so proud of him. To this day, he jokes his wedding was an "errand" that day!

[otohara]

19. Married By Creepy Republican Judge w/ Pics of Reagan All Over

his office. He was very, very old and had gout so bad, he could barely walk. My hubby is Japanese and this guy kept going on and on about WWII, like my 32 year old husband wanted to discuss WWII. The Japanese don't like speaking about it.

Pics of icky Reagan everywhere and guns on the walls.

[Left Is Write]

20. We kind of raced to the altar - married in three months!

I met my wonderful husband on May 23, 1997. It was a Friday night; the start of Memorial Day weekend.

We got engaged on June 13. Yes, you read that right. We met on May 23 and got engaged on June 13.

I still have the lovely, warm memory of the old biddy at work who went around telling everyone I was a "desperate old maid" who jumped into engagement with the "first guy" who asked me, and I must be pregnant.

I wasn't pregnant, of course, and he was not, in fact, the "first guy" who asked me to marry him.

At any rate...we wanted to be married sooner rather than later, for many reasons. We also didn't want to spend a lot of money on a huge event. My second cousin, a florist, did beautiful silk flowers for us. I bought my dress off the rack at Dayton's. I ordered a cake from Byerly's bakery (and it was the most delicious wedding cake I ever had). We planned a morning ceremony followed by a simple luncheon reception at my parents' house.

I asked my sister to be my matron of honor. I didn't require her to wear a traditional bridesmaid dress. I asked her to pick out her own dress, and she chose a very pretty summery floral dress. D asked his best friend to be his best man. Both men wore suits; we didn't have tuxes.

We were married on Saturday, August 23, 1997, exactly three months to the day after we met. My husband-to-be and soon-to-be father-in-law picked me up at my parents' house at 9AM in FIL's Jaguar (a nice, semi-ritzy little touch) and we headed for the church I'd belonged to since birth. The ceremony was scheduled for 11AM. We had only 18 people - including ourselves - so instead of using the sanctuary, we were married in the much smaller, more intimate chapel at the church. The pastor who married us was a young man, under 40, who wore his hair in a ponytail. He just wore a suit too; he didn't wear any robes or vestments. My brother played the music on a CD player for us. My dad walked me up the short aisle.

During the ceremony the pastor cracked jokes about the two of us, and at one point he produced a guitar and asked my husband to play - that came as a complete surprise to my husband! The pastor also included my then ten-year-old daughter in part of the ceremony, to symbolized the family unit we were about to become.

It was the best wedding ceremony ever. Afterward my parents and his parents and my siblings took lots of pictures. We didn't have a professional photographer, but we wound up with stacks of great pictures!

When we emerged from the church, the sky had clouded somewhat, and I'll never forget the fresh smell of an impending summer rain.


We all went to my parents' house where we had cold cuts, a variety of breads, fruit, vegetables, salads, coffee, punch, and champagne. And the cake, of course. We all laughed and talked and we opened presents. It was fun and relaxed. My dad put some tunes on the stereo.

By 3PM we had changed and packed up the old Bonneville to head for our honeymoon on the North Shore of Lake Superior. My daughter made a cardboard "Just Married" sign to put in the back window. We waved goodbye to everyone and headed out to the main road.

Where we got a flat tire.

Taking a detour to the nearest Firstone, we dropped off the car for repairs. While we waited for the car, we walked over to Old Chicago and had some Italian nachos.

Once on the road again, we drove the 3.5 hours to Two Harbors, MN, where we checked into our suite at Superior Shores Lodge. By 9PM we were sitting in the restaurant, toasting with champagne and awaiting our wedding supper.

[Blue Diadem]

22. Yesterday was our 31st anniversary,

We never had the big wedding my Mil wanted. Neither Hubby or I wanted a large event, but she was very demanding. Hubby and I were engaged, had a date set, I was working two jobs to pay for the big day to make her happy.

But..I um..ended up pregnant. Instead of the big wedding, Hubby and I were married in a judges chambers. Mil shrieked how ashamed she was and that our marriage would never last, and then proceeded to have our marriage license listing in the newspaper removed. My parents put in a wedding announcement.

On our first anniversary, hubby and I renewed our vows in the Catholic church. Both times, it was just he and I and our two best friends.

Little did I know until last summer, that my Mil had told all her family that our wedding date was the church wedding date. We were at a family reunion and hubby's cousin and I were going over some birthdates for grandchildren. Imagine my shock when I discovered that my Mil had told them our date of marriage was the 2nd date.

My children are adults now and 2 of 3 have gotten married. My daughter's was a simple church wedding with a few in attendance. My son's was elaborate and created a lot of stress..but it is what my dil wanted. My other son is engaged and will be having a large wedding in 2006.

[katinmn]

24. Conratulations!

Sorry your MIL turned out to be a stinker.

My MIL was a WONDERFUL woman. She passed away about 10 years ago and I still miss her.

Glad she never knew her son and I got divorced.

[Blue Diadem]

33. Thank you for the congrats.

LOL, I had to laugh at the word stinker.. that's a good description of my Mil, especially in the beginning. I had married her last child so I'm sure that had something to do with it. She mellowed some over the years and we lost her in 97.

It's refreshing to hear of good Mil's. You were very fortunate.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. another two wedding story:

#1. My ex talked me into getting married in April on our spring break from college/grad school, instead of the following Thanksgiving which was what I wanted ..for a long list of reasons, starting with more time to plan the wedding, I would be only 12 weeks away from my degree WITH teaching certificate and no rushing through summer school to complete college, etc etc etc. But he just did not want to wait that long to have me up in Boston with him, so I gave in. (And by the way gave up inheriting a gorgeous diamond that had been on my grandfather's hand for as long as even my MOTHER could remember, which he had willed to me provided I did not marry until I was over 21, and if I did it went to my sister...I still resent that 30 odd years and another marriage later, not for the diamond but for the fact that it was HIS RING!!! my baby sister has it now...I should have known right then it was gonna be a BAD MATCH)...

anyway, because we put the wedding together faster than my mom and I would have liked and because we couldn't arrange it so there could be any kind of rehearsal, we had fewer bridesmaids than I wanted, fewer guests because my father had this idea that we were asking for presents if we sent invitations and he also had a cow over what everything cost, so we only invited aunts, uncles, cousins, a few select folks from church, my college sorority sisters who could get there, etc. (normal procedure in my little town is publish it in the paper, tell everybody in the church they are invited, order a big cake and a vat of punch and have a nice party in the church hall after). I even had a street length dress, when I could have had a long one for only about $15 more because my mom made it anyway.

Also my MIL was a certified psycho with a history of Mental Hospital residence. Another bad sign. She wore BLACK dress to our wedding, and my poor FIL was absolutely certain the wedding was going to set her off because the minister was someone she had known during one of the periods that set off a psycho event that landed her in the hospital.

Honeymoon ...we went to Nashville, then to Mammoth Cave which was nice but I did not have much say in where we went. Another bad sign.

no photos, my mom had them all and her house burned about 17 years ago. There may be one or two lying around in the stuff from my granny's house but I haven't put them in the scanner .......


OK NOW FOR THE SECOND ONE. .......
(my mom, me, MR YellowDog, my baby sis)

After the divorce, I started dating my current husband who had been my good friend for several years . I met him (ironically enough) at Mammoth Cave, through Cave Research Foundation which I had joined when my first husband started caving there...{important sidebar}. All our good friends were CRF people, we even went on our first official date with a CRF couple....

Planning this wedding was a lot of fun. AFter we made the decision to get dressed up and NOT marry IN the cave (which we could have done), I found a dress, which was marked down half price WHILE I WAS TRYING IT ON, found a simple dress for my sister to wear and the OTHER attendant who was the best woman, got a friend to do the flowers, hired my sister's photographer, and scouted for locations.

We wanted to marry close to the cave on a regular CRF weekend so all our friends could attend. Finally settled on the banquet hall of a nearby hotel, which is on a bluff just outside the park and has its own cave by the way. Cost: $50. The hotel linked me up with local lady who did gorgeous wedding cakes and did all the set up and delivery. cost for 2 large cakes: $150. Hotel caterers did light refreshments, punch, coffee and iced tea. cost: $85.

Flower guy and his wife came in early that morning, covered the ugly curtains in the hall with some nice ivory bedsheets I purchased (forever known thereafter as the wedding linens LOL) and set up the room . Cake was at the opposite end from the ceremony end. Neat and easy.

We were married by a local circuit court judge who was an old family friend from way back, (and also a United Methodist Lay Speaker, meaning that on the annual layman's Sunday,he was someone you could get to do the sermon). He wore his judge robes and it was so cool. I cast my very first vote for this man by the way!!!

Once we finished the ceremony, we cut the cake right away so the guests could get served while we took photos, and then we just had a good time visiting.

My new inlaws who had come up from Texas, hosted a dinner(in lieu of rehearsal party) in the same hotel for the wedding party, my uncle and grandmother, and all the Texas relatives. It was just great! My new FIL and my mom's brother bonded over their military careers (Marines and Army, respectively), both my uncles renewed their old friendship with the judge, our best woman (an attorney who KNEW this judge from court) also enjoyed getting to know him better, and the steaks were good.

It was really a fun day. Old friends I had not seen in a long time showed up (thanks to my mom). Our grandmothers and elderly great aunts were happy because we had finally gotten married, and that we did not get married underground as they had feared we would, all our favorite friends were there, and the weather was quite cooperative.

We stayed the night at the hotel, then went back to Nashville, and packed for our THREE WEEK TRIP TO SPAIN. The wedding may have been not too expensive but the honeymoon made up for that. I would go to Spain again in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity.

Sorry for the length.

[Orsino]

25. Eloped.

Well, sort of. We drove across town to the home of a JoP who done the deed. Just my wife's sister and a buddy of mine along as witnesses.

We'd toyed with the idea of a formal wedding, but it was the second time around for both of us. Really, we were just interested in results.

[leftofthedial]

26. 27 years ago

we said I do

10 years ago, I figured out that she didn't

in a couple of months, neither one of us will

the wedding itself was really great.

[fudge stripe cookays]

27. These are great!

reprehensor and I weren't really romantic as much as pragmatic about getting married. We were 1600 miles away, after meeting on the internet, so we pretty much figured ONE of us was going to have to move. He did create a beautiful animated Web page to propose to me though. :loveya:

We spent all of 1999 with balls and chains around our ankles, not wanting to leave our computers. We used IM, e-mail, phone calls, and occasional (all too infrequent) visits.

I had just gotten a fantastic job in my field, and he had recently been laid off, so that was one thing, but he knew with my history that there was no way I was dumping my life and moving to Canada for him. Fortunately, he was much more idealistic.

We finally got his immigration stuff processed, so he moved down in May of 2000, and we were married in July.

I picked a little wedding chapel off Central with a package deal for 3 hours on Saturday afternoon, with cake, champagne fountain, coffee, and we paid for 4 foods: baguettes and flavored butters, spinach dip, mini sandwiches, and a fruit platter with fruit dip.

We had a DJ play very specific music that we had picked out (Bruce Cockburn, Peter Gabriel, classics, etc). I wanted no "Celebration" being played at my wedding.

I walked down the aisle to "At Last" by Etta James.

I designed our cake topper, because I hate the cheesy ones you buy. I bought some action figures at the toy store, carved them down, and made little outfits for them out of Sculpey clay. Then bought little furniture for them at a dollhouse supply store. So the figures look like us in our wedding outfits, sitting at computers. It was the hit of the reception!





The only diaster was the limo company I hired. I hate the modern white cheesy ones. I found a company that uses a cool old white 68 Daimler-- which LOOKED infinitely cooler-- BUT....

The thing died, and we had to have it JUMPED, just as we were ready to make our big exit. Luckily a friend's husband stepped in and helped.

From there, we had to drive from Eastern Central Dallas all the way out to DFW Airport (way west), and the driver says "So where are we going?" Duh! How far in advance had I booked this guy? I reminded him the Hyatt at DFW.

"Which one?" he replies. I was like "What? What do you mean, which one? There was only one at DFW on Hyatt's website." He insisted there were 2, and he needed to know which one or he'd take us to the wrong one.

So we're all frantically checking paperwork to see which one-- the driver called the hotel and it had no record of our reservation, which panicked us! We found out later that day that there had been some sort of solar flare, and it was messing with all types of technical and computer info, cell phones, etc. But they said they had plenty of room, so come on over, no worries.

One thing I wasn't told about the limo is, "THERE'S NO AIR CONDITIONING!" There's a tiny vent under the seat, but have you ever been for any legth of time in a car in Texas in July with no air conditioning? NOT FUN! Thank goodness we had changed out of our wedding wear, or we never would have gotten the sweaty smell out of it.

THEN, we drive up to the toll booth at the airport, and the guy pulls ahead of the booth and just SITS there! Like a freaking idiot! We're like, "Dude! Go get the freaking ticket!" He finally wises up, gets out of the car, and retrieves our ticket.

It turns out, that there were two TOWERS to the Hyatt...they were CONNECTED by a tunnel under the highway. It made NO DIFFERENCE which one we were at because it was the same HOTEL! (They've since demolished one of the towers to make room for a new terminal).

We were so furious when we got out of that car, he tried to open the doors for us, and we opened the door to the OTHER SIDE and got out ourselves. He KNEW we were pissed.

When we got into the hotel, we were still fuming, so the receptionist calmed us down, said everything was fine, and even sent up a bottle of Chardonnay and snacks, gratis, with the hotel's compliments and congratulations.

We proceeded to shower, do what newlyweds do, then hang out at the bar playing pool, drinking, and just loving finally being together and having fun after a year of being apart.

Because we didn't think we'd be able to leave the country due to his immigration status, we stayed domestic. We flew to Chicago the next morning, and reprehensor let me do genealogy on my honeymoon. We stayed at a bunch of neat little bed and breakfasts around Wisconsin, and he got to meet some of my dad's family (who have since died-- so it was worth it)



FSC

[scarlet_owl]

28. My wedding was very small. Our flower girl did not want to

walk down the aisle, so her dad had to carry her down and throw her petals for her. One of the groomsmen didn't show up until after the wedding (my husband told him the wrong time), so my cousin had to step in. When it came time for the kiss, my husband kind of grabbed me and kissed me passionately. That was VERY out of character for my husband, who is extremely shy and introverted. Our "reception" was a picnic in our local park with homemade Italian beef and cake.

[bleedingheart]

40. that sounds sweet

i can just see the dad carrying her and throwing the petals...

[LWolf]

29. 2 weddings, no spouse left.

First wedding: 17 years old, 7 months pregnant, in his family's fundie church, my mom crying tears of real grief. A potluck at the inlaw's after. Divorce 10 years and 2 kids later.

Second wedding: to childhood best friend, in Vegas. A ride in a decrepit old limo to get a license, a short ceremony in front of a retired minister at a chapel, drinks by the pool with family and friends that showed up, and a weekend partying in Vegas. Separated 12 years later. Four and a half years after the separation, just last week, divorce decree arrived in the mail. I've been divorced for 17 months.

No more weddings!

[Coventina]

31. DEATH TO THE WEDDING INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX!!!

Hubby and I did immediate family only at a public park, then hopped in the car for our honeymoon getaway.

No church, no music, no fancy clothes, no reception, NO WORRIES!!!!!

[scarlett1]

32. 12 years ago

During my second semester of Law School. Wedding night at the Raphael Hotel on the Plaza in Kansas City. Back to school on Monday, Honeymooned in Hot Springs, Arkansas during Spring Break, I remember my new Father in Law said to us just before we left to go to Arkansas, "Hot Springs Tonight". I'm sure this sweet Catholic girl turned 5 shades of red when he said that.

[Pithlet]

35. Civil ceremony at the courthouse.

I was 8 months pregnant. Despite the total lack of overpriced pageantry, it was a special moment for me, and I'll never forget it.

[fudge stripe cookays]

37. Kick!

I want to read some more wedding stories!

FSC :applause:

[BuddhaGirl]

38. 6 1/2 years ago - in Sausalito CA

with the SF bay in the background at the Alta Mira hotel.

2nd marriage for both of us - we both had "practice marriages." :-)

It was the happiest day of my life. The next day we jetted to Maui for two weeks of honeymoon bliss. We even bought and wore matching hawaiian shirts - looking back on that we laugh hysterically but hey we were in absolute lala land LOLOL

[bleedingheart]

39. A Four Man Polka Band, Whiskey, Cake, 135 Dozen Cookies

and a bunch of crazy hunkies...

that was my wedding.

[livetohike]

46. Ah, reminds me of home!

:-)

[bleedingheart]

47. my WASPy inlaws were stunned by how wild it got...

[livetohike]

49. I'm 100% Slovak and my husband is Croatian

We couldn't afford the polka band and there was no alcohol at the church hall (see post #3), but I have attended many, many, many authentic "hunky" weddings over the years :-).

[bleedingheart]

50. I am 50% Lithuanian and 50% Croatian

I was lucky because my mom paid for the hall and the food/booze, mostly because she wanted us married instead of living in sin and she didn't believe us when we told her we would get married the following spring...hahaahahah

The band was from Ohio and as I recall their name was Champagne...they were quite good given the fact that I have been to weddings where they had 12 piece bands...

[gauguin57]

55. Half Czech here ... and "Hunky" weddings are the best.

The singing, the polkas, the slivovitz, the old ladies bawling their heads off ...

[blue neen]

41. We had a small, immediate-family wedding. It was beautiful,

but I was so nervous that my knees were shaking and bouncing into each other!

We were standing outside the church after the ceremony. Three guys in a pickup truck drove by and yelled out the window, "YOU'LL BE SORRY!"

We celebrate our silver anniversary in September. :)

[pdx_prog]

42. My latest ex wife and I were married in a barber shop

Went to the court house (small Tennessee town) and got our license. Went straight to this one chair barber shop where the barber done pastoring part time...lol.

To me, it was more memorable than a formal wedding, besides we had already been there and done that previously.

[Debbi801]

43. We had the most wonderful wedding...

It was both of our 2nd weddings and we knew we did not want a fancy "formal" thing, just not our style. Plus, I had 2 young kids and there would be lots of other little kids there and we wanted it to be fun for them, too.

We both are crazy about Renaissance Faires and decided to do a Ren Faire wedding. We got married at the Ren Faire in costume. All the guests and family members raved about how it was the best, most fun wedding they'd ever been too. We had all the traditional Ren Faire foods--giant turkey legs, etc. We put together goody bags for the kids with bubbles snacks, and fun trinkets for them to play with.

The only thing I'd change was the weather--it was right at the end of Hurricane Mitch and it was an outside wedding. Luckily, it cleared up for the wedding, but it was sure muddy.:D

We've been married for 5 1/2 years and we still talk about how much fun our wedding was. We only had the people who were most important to us, so it was way under 100 people. And, we didn't go into debt for it.

Debbi

[XNASA]

44. Mrs. XNASA spent the night in a hospital following our Wedding.

The day after our Wedding, we were on our way to Door County to Honeymoon.

We got as far as Skokie before Mrs. XNASA had a panic attack and I had to take her to the ER.

That's basically how it's been for the last 20 years.

[Habibi]

58. Oy. Sorry to hear that.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

45. Not much of a story...

We got married just about 3 years ago now on May 21, 2002 at the local county clerk's office. It cost us a little over $100 to do it. It didn't take very long. Afterward, we ate Domino's pizza with my husband's aunt and uncle. We also picked up some gold wedding bands at JC Penny. My ring is too big for me now because I've lost weight since then. I have to wear it on my middle or index finger now. I guess it's time for a new ring.

[AllegroRondo]

51. Eloped at Disney World

and didnt tell anyone. My wife and I just took a week off, drove down to Florida, and got married at Disney right across the lake from the Magic Kingdom. Then we send everyone an email with a photo to let them know where we had run off to.

[Serial Mom]

53. Mine was 36 years ago also, but quite the opposite of yours

We were going to get secretly married, but the minister we talked to called my parents.

The wedding was planned a week before it took place, only immediate family (total of 20-22 people there on Valentine's Day). Had a nice dinner for all at a beautiful restaurant (it was easier to get dinner reservations for that many on Valentine's Day years ago just a week before the event).

I wore just a sleeveless white brocade short sheath dress, hubby a dark suit (we were just 18 years old).

My father made us dance before he would give us keys to his car to get my suitcase out of it. We spent "honeymoon" at a Holiday Inn for one night, our best friends from high school came and had a drink with us. We played pick up sticks (as I was packing for the night I found them and put them in suitcase for a laugh).

[gauguin57]

54. If I ever were to get married, it would be the bare minimum of everything.

Maybe a ceremony on some East-Coast beach -- anyone can wear whatever the hell they want. I'll wear something I can wear again and again.

I'd rather spend the money on a house and a great European honeymoon. And then, later, throw a big party for friends.

Those who want big hoo-ha weddings ... well, that's their business. For me, it would be a waste of money. And not my style at all.

[UCLA Dem]

56. Loved my wedding...minus a few things of course.

I got married in January (the only dry weekend in Ca this year), so we were really lucky. We were able to have the ceremony outside and it was at night with lots of twinkle lights.

I'm a non-traditional girl, so I didn't change my name and my dress was blue. (My mother wasn't happy with the idea at first, but it definitely grew on her).

My advice: do whatever you want. Its your day and it should stay that way. Everyone will have their own ideas about "how things should be," but don't listen to them. Have fun and stay true to you and your future spouse!

[Habibi]

57. Just last August

Married an old friend from high school--we'd met up at a reunion after not seeing each other for 20 years.

Backyard tent, only our closest family and friends, catered BBQ and unlimited wine and beer. My dress cost $20, he wore a Hawaiian shirt and khakis. We had a local (Dem) judge perform the ceremony. Some pals from my belly dance troupe provided the entertainment.

Best damn party we ever gave. We want to do it again!

[Missy Vixen]

60. We've had three

First wedding: September, 1993. We met through a personals ad in December, 1992, and were married a scandalous 10 months later. We got married at Kirkland, WA's Marina Park Pavilion. We were the first couple to ever rent it for a wedding. It cost $50 for three hours, and we had to bring in our own chairs ;-). I had the big white princess dress, DH had on a tux, and the matron of honor and I visited Starbucks just before the wedding for my last "single" latte. We had cake, mints, nuts and coffee after the wedding. Did I mention we were too broke for the big church wedding?

Second wedding: July, 2003. We renewed our vows in Leavenworth, WA, in front of two of our friends. We wore Hawaiian shirts and shorts. I fashioned my own bouquet. This time, it was cake and Perrier-Jouet champagne for all.

Third wedding: Last Saturday. The city of Kirkland, WA hosted a mass vow renewal for their 100th anniversary at Marina Park Pavilion. Of COURSE we wanted to be there! DH and I wore dress clothes. One of my friends had the local florist make me a bouquet. :cry: We attended the group reception on a boat tied up to the dock.

I am so grateful that I met DH. He is the love of my life.

Julie

[jmowreader]

61. My very tiny wedding tale

Well, the wedding was tiny...

Like I told y'all a couple weeks ago, we got married almost immediately upon meeting. We decided to go to the Jefferson County Justice of the Peace because neither of us is religious.

Quick note: I'm from Idaho. Most of my family is still there--one of my sisters was living in Seattle at the time and my freeper brother was driving truck out of Oklahoma. Lori is from Illinois and, except for her sister (who was a cook in my unit's mess hall), all of her family was still in Illinois. And none of them could make it to New York State for a wedding.

Our guests were going to be all the people in my company plus the division G-2, the battalion adjutant was my best woman (kinda like a best man, just in a dress), and the HHC supply sergeant was Lori's maid of honor.

Okay, check it out: The day before the big event, I said we'd meet in the company parking lot and convoy to the judge's chambers. No, no, said the company, we'll meet you at the courthouse. "You know where it is?" 'Of course.'

We were living together in her sister's spare bedroom at the time. The morning of the wedding, Lori went upstairs to wash up, do her hair and put on her makeup only to find that her sister's boyfriend had totally trashed the bathroom. "Here. You do it." I also did her sister and the maid of honor. (Hey, it beats pacing the floor.)

Time to leave. Her sister was all "oh, I'll meet you there." The maid of honor followed us because her car didn't run very well and she'd need a ride if it broke down on the way up or back. As it turned out, her car worked fine.

Remember three paragraphs ago I said the guys in the company all knew where the courthouse was? Well, they did...unfortunately, Jefferson County outgrew its courthouse and built a special one just for the justice of the peace--five miles from the one downtown. And even more unfortunately, the whole company went downtown and wondered where the hell we were while Lori, her maid of honor, my best woman and I were wondering not only where the hell the company was, but where the hell Lori's sister was.

Fifteen minutes later, with absolutely NO guests at the wedding, the JP arrived. I do believe we set the world's land speed record for Marriage Ceremonies: sign here, here and here; promise to love, honor and not divorce; exchange rings; kiss; congratulations--you're married; it's just started snowing out there, don't kill yourself on the way home.

At the EXACT MOMENT the JP told us to have a safe trip home, all of the guests walked through the door. They brought us a bottle of tequila on the theory that getting drunk and screwing your brains out on your wedding night is a good thing, but field station people don't do champagne. Gee, thanks guys.

We went home, had one of the worst meals I have ever cooked, drank the bottle of tequila and proceeded to legitimize our marriage.... Okay, the Recipe from Hell: My company went to the field a few weeks before and had T-rations. We bought too many, couldn't turn them in, couldn't save them and didn't want to throw them away, so we put the sealed cans on the floor and let whoever wanted some get them. I got a couple cans of boiled chicken breasts. "Hey Jim!" I thought to myself, "why not make cordon bleu out of these?" No problem: a T-rat chicken breast, a slice of ham lunch meat, a slice of cheese, roll in bread crumbs and fry. Don't do this. It is fucking nasty. (And now you know why we drank the whole bottle of tequila.)

The next morning I told my new bride the Little Red Riding Hood joke, which is most foul, and we spent the rest of the day watching violent movies and relegitimizing our marriage. By sundown we had the most legitimate marriage in the state of New York.

I had taken that week as leave, and we spent most of it on post filling out paperwork to make my bride a proper Army Wife. Most important: signing up for housing.

I got back to work on a Monday. First thing: "Jim, you're going to Norfolk for two weeks to help run a field training exercise." I'd never even seen a $285 phone bill until that first one after the end of the exercise...

[margaritamama]

62. Future Brides and Grooms

Plan for the marriage not the wedding. If you do this the wedding is gonna last a lifetime. :hug:

My wedding was the best day of the rest of my life with my very best friend.

[Missy Vixen]

64. Absolutely, margaritamama

The marriage is much more important than the china pattern/what Uncle Vern will say about your choice of music/what's served at the reception.

If you're going to spend money on anything, spend it on the best quality professional photographer you can find and the rings. They are the only things left 24 hours later, and the things you'll look back on and smile at over the years. We were broke and spent what we considered a shocking amount on our pictures. We treasure them to this day. Also, buy whatever ring you would like to wear. It doesn't matter if your friends or family like it; you're the one that's wearing it for the rest of your life.

It's all over in five hours. Nobody will care how many people were at your wedding in ten years. (The chances are extremely good that you won't even know those people in ten years...) It's all about you and your loved one.

Julie

[MrsMatt]

63. We were married in a small country church

I'm Lutheran and MrMatt was raised Catholic. Our soloist sang "Ave Maria" and after the ceremony, one of my aunts went up to him and commented on how nice it was that he sang a song with my name in it (Marie).

We still laugh about that.

[politicat]

65. We married ourselves.

People can do that in Colorado, so we had no one stand over us and mumble mumbo-jumbo that we don't believe in, anyway. Legally, we were already married, since Colorado also has commonlaw marriage, and we'd signed those papers about 3 weeks after 9/11, when my company lost about 20 contracts at once and let a lot of us go. DH wanted me to have insurance.

Mr. Pcat and I had the wedding at home, because no hall or church (not that we're the type who belong in churches) would let us bring the 4 footed children. We ordered the cake from a local baker, but it was a basic 4 layer genoise with whipped cream roses - no frosting. Catering for 10 was by the local Japanese restaurant and sushi bar - a platter of mixed sushi, maguro butsu, chicken teriyaki, rice, various vegetables. I arranged my flowers myself, after getting them at the floral market loose. My dress was something I've worn occasionally since then; I bought it from a local ladies' haberdashery. Mr. Pcat wore his good suit. I think the total cost of the wedding, including invitations, thank yous, witness gifts, and etc. was under $1000. (Now that I think about it, under $500.) My ring is a Victorian engagement ring with a garnet; his is a 1920's man's ring, soon to be replaced with a titanium band with a silver thread.

My family ended up being told not to come, since we married in December, and Mom was convinced she could drive 14 hours over deserted highways with an ailing husband (he had prostate cancer and had a bag and Bell's Palsy at the time), my sister, and my 6 month old nephew in a 1984 Cadillac Cimmaron (the #8 car on the Worst Cars of the Millennium, according to the Tappet Brothers).... With snow on the way. My father and I don't speak; Mr. Pcat does not speak to his father, and his mother and sister - though we scheduled the wedding around the academic calendar for them - could not get away from school for a December 29th wedding. (yeah, right.)

It's worked for us!!