s/o best weddings -- your wedding

[v]

Objectively -- and not because it was *your* special day or because all of your friends and family were there -- how does your wedding compare to others you've been to?  Try to answer how an objective observer who has been to all of the same weddings as you would answer.

[Deleted]

People had fun at my wedding and say it was one of the best. I however thought it was ok. There was too much for us to do. And it ended too fast. My BFF had the best wedding I ever went to. She had great drinks and an awesome DJ that I stole for my own wedding.

[Deleted]

I liked my wedding. I had fun. I wish I was older when I was planning it, it would have been more " cohesive".

I have been to FAR fancier weddings that were less fun, and weddings with more drama, and weddings that were very boring.

I have been to much prettier venues though.

[bearbaby]

I said one of the best (not THE best) - obviously I thought it was amazing, but 4 years later we still regularly have friends & family comment on how much fun they had.

I think the keys were: great reception space (lots of space), my Mom's great touches in really impressive/complete decor, GREAT bar and an AMAZING 10 piece band who had the party going from minute 1.

Food was also very good (Nothing super fancy - but really plentiful yummy heavy apps for cocktail hour and good sit down dinner).

[Deleted]

I have never been to another wedding with an ice cream sundae buffet though. I win in that catagory.

[GotWine]

My wedding was average. We had an open bar, and the DJ played good music. Our food was good. We got married before Pinterest or any of our friends so we didn't have any of the fun 'extras'. If we were able to go back and redo things I would have made it much more fun.

[ssmjlm]

My only regret was the venue b/c they were shady as fuck. And I wish my MIL had done a better job with the RD, but even DH tried with her and it was a waste.

But we had open bar, big cocktail hour, huge buffet, and then cake and coffee. Everyone was on the dance floor until the end.

And then we invited close friends and family to a Sunday Brunch that was awesome.

[purplecow0206]

We got some great complements...from people who usually attend dry, Southern wedding cake-and-punch receptions in church basements. Our full bar and plated dinner was GREAT comparatively. Objectively, it was nice. It was actually cheaper to do the full bar AND the plated dinner (they charged beer and wine on consumption or had a full bar priced per person) and the rest of the day went just fine. I wouldn't say it was an amazing day from an outsider's perspective, but we got to do what we wanted and what was within our budget.

[justjen]

There is no way I can be objective about this, lol

[mrshandy]

It was fun, but the not super-duper awesome. Every had a good time. Open bar, dancing, yummy cake what more could you ask for ? My parents paid for most of it. I'm glad we didn't go into debt for it since 7 1/2 years later I realize how insignficant it is in the grand scheme of things.

[kdubs923]

I agree with PPs. Others say it was a great wedding. It was 4 years ago and many still rave about the food, drinks, and DJ.

But my wedding was just OK to me. It was a lovely day, but I've had wayyyyy more fun at other weddings. Mostly due to:
1. I built everything up in my head for the previous year while planning, so the reality was just 'OK - checked it off my list'
2. I was too busy making talking to the guests/taking pictures/fulfilling obligations, that I didn't have as much time to get drunk and dance like I would as a guest

[loira]

H and I once attended a black tie wedding in Paris at a very chic hotel in Place Vendôme. Our wedding was not going to top that!

[shamrockshake]

I said above average. We had tons of food and booze and a great DJ, the dance floor was packed all night long, but it was a pretty standard country club wedding, nothing super special.

Our rehearsal dinner was pretty damn amazing though, it was at an awesome place with phenomenal food- MIL did the whole thing, it was great

[pooh8402]

It was above average I think... we had really good food (got LOTS of compliments) even though it was a buffet, gasp!, open beer and wine, a lot of people knew each other so there was lots of mingling, and we had a a full dance floor. The ceremony was perfect for DH and I--not too long, a good mixture of somber religious ceremony and lighthearted joking.

The worst part was that it was hot as balls. It was indoor/outdoor so relief was possible, but ceremony and pictures were all outdoors. All of the groomsmen changed clothes or at least stripped off jackets as soon as they were released from pictures.

[pooh8402]

Nov 16, 2015 11:40:20 GMT -5 h said:

I kind of wonder if people had a little too much fun. Like half our guests ended up sleeping with each other, including my little brother and my H's little sister (a fact everyone including DH hid from me for months). We got back from our honeymoon and kept hearing all these crazy stories.

Yea, this too. We got back and heard lots of stories as well. I think a divorce was indirectly caused by the after party.

[luckyno7]

Our wedding was very us. We didn't want to spend a ton of money. I loved our ceremony because we were able to incorporate both of our pastors.

Our reception was at a golf course. It had a great outside area for a cocktail hour before. We got lots of compliments and food was really good. Free beer and wine all night and free cocktails for the wedding party. My H and i took dance lessons and did an Argentine tango for our first dance and no one but his mom knew (because she paid for our lessons). My pastor said it was some of the best wedding good he's had. I am not much for decorations so there wasn't much to that. If I had to do anything over again I'd hire a different photographer.

Also I loved our DJ. He kept the floor dancing the whole night.

[imojoebunny]

I did not enjoy my own wedding. DH and I really dislike being the center of attention. We often have big parties, so our friends can entertain each other, and we thought it would be like that, but it wasn't because we were the focus. We would have eloped, but I wanted my dad to walk me down the isle and my grandparents there, and my mom really wanted to plan a wedding, since her mom hijacked hers, so she hijacked mine, and I let her. She even changed the flowers, and the food without telling me. It mets all the money matters standards though, full bar, loads of food, including a vegetarian selection, live band, easy transportation for drinking guest, invited all the kids (surprisingly few came), ect. By all accounts, it was fun for everyone else, but DH and I had much more fun at the rehearsal dinner and the after party at our house around the corner, with just our close friends.

I do love being married to my DH, and I haven't ever been to a bad wedding of someone else's. They are always fun.

[SJ]

One of the very best!!!

[holly116]

I would say ours was a touch over average. I mentioned in the other threads that we had a very large wedding. And because of that, we cut corners because of the sheer volume.

Our reception location was basically a church basement. We chose it based on location and the fact that we could bring in our own catering and booze which saved us a ton of $$$$. We went with upgraded, but still plastic, dinnerware. We did the flowers and decor for the tables ourselves and didn't do much. The cake was tasty but looked horrible. I bought my dress (although I loved it) off the rack at a sample sale. Our photographer is an actual photographer, but a friend of a friend because I got an extreme discount. A friend of a friend made my veil. My makeup was done by my sisters friend etc.

However, our ceremony was amazing, spiritual, had great music and was at the most beautiful church I've been in outside of Europe. Our food was fantastic and plentiful, we were able to get good German beer and a metric ton of wine and booze for all of our guests. We had free transportation between the hotel and the reception so everyone had a very good time safely. Our DJ rocked and everyone had a great time dancing till the very end.

[cincodemayo]

I said above average, and I think a lot of people had a really good time. We had cute decor, good food, free margaritas, wine, and beer and a really fun crowd/good music. But it was nothing OMG AMAZING and I made my guests travel 1-3 hours depending on where they were coming from. Everything was at the same site though and we provided free transportation, but I don't know if I would have done that again.

[Alyssa]

I think my cousin's fancy-schmancy wedding in Santa Barbara beat out my wedding, but my day was almost perfect.

My bouquet grew legs and walked off was sort of a downer. I left my bouquet on the table during the first dance and during that time, our plates were cleared and the bouquet disappeared. I can't imagine a staff member picking up a brides's large bouquet along with some plates and tossing it...who does that? Of course no one saw it walk off and no staff member said they touched it. Anyway, it went M.I.A. and I was a little bothered because I was planning to dry some of the flowers. Other than that, the day was great.

[sewf]

I loved ours obviously. I think it was different than traditional weddings, but we had everything in one place (an old theatre) no gap at all, open bar, lots of dancing. But we also had a buffet that my family catered (on their demand), and it was a Sunday evening wedding. So good things and bad things, I guess. But everyone was fed and had drinks all night, so I count it as a win.

[missmaddie]

I think ours was a pretty traditional wedding, and open bar, no budget (because we were dumb and 25 and my parents loaned us blank cheques...key word being loaned), and we were among the first of our friends to get married. So I think the food, bar, and a bunch of 23-25 year olds dancing all night was a good time. Tried to keep speeches to a minimum, no slide shows, etc.

We tried to use only one venue but caved to parental wishes for a short "church"/chapel wedding. I think the gap was about an hour or so? Heavy apps and bar for guests while we did photos.

I spent a lot of time on the seating plan to group our friends, or solo guests with others they'd have things in common with, etc.

[halfpint]

I'd say average. We did some things that I'd change if I did it again, and some things that I loved. Honestly, if it weren't for being on the Knot/Nest, I probably wouldn't think twice about a lot of these things, but reading threads over the years, it does make you wonder what other people thought about our day, or if we were tacky assholes.

Loved -
-our church. Gorgeous building.
-our transportation from the church - a family friend chauffeured us in his 1930s Buick.
-my bridesmaids carried cute clutches instead of flowers, and kept them as gifts.
-our reception was at a golf course, and they lit up the mini golf for our guests.
-we did all heavy apps rather than a full meal - passed hors d'oeuvres, a massive cheese/fruit/veg spread, a candy/dessert bar, tons of tasty treats on trays - it allowed me to do things like filet mignon and fancy cheeses and more gourmet items for the same price as a bland chicken buffet
-we had all these cute seating arrangements - couches, comfy chairs, tall bar tables, traditional round tables with chairs, bar stools - it felt like a chill cocktail lounge with all my friends and family.
-most people seemed to really have an awesome time. Lots of dancing, drinking, laughing. The photo booth pics are fantastic from that night (I wish we'd done some kind of instant picture option with that as a party favor).

Things that kind of make me cringe -
-we let the DJ talk us into a "dollar dance" - that's maybe the one thing I would REALLY change.
-we did a honeymoon registry (on our wedding site with PayPal, not through a service that takes a cut - at the time, I thought it was clever, and everything was like buying an experience - so for $15, could buy us lunch in Dublin, and for $50 could pay for a night at a B&B, etc. Someone could buy our tickets to Blarney Castle. For those that chose to do this, I included a little picture of what they "bought" us from our Honeymoon, like us enjoying a pub lunch or standing outside of a castle, in their thank you note.)
-we took a little too long to get to the reception - we tried to take some pictures in between, and my grandma left before we even got there. I feel like it was about an hour in between.
-sometimes I wish I'd just done a real meal with assigned seats - like I worry that's what people expected, and were disappointed (even though I felt like there was a TON of food and seating).
-we provided an assortment of beer and wine, and champagne for the toast, but also left the hard liquor as an option to purchase. I wish we'd just done a full open bar. But honestly, cash bars are so common here - I feel like we offered way more than many of the weddings I've been to locally.
-we opted for kid-free, and I think that hurt some feelings. And I didn't invite my severely handicapped cousin. She's 37 and wears diapers, and tends to shout out and get agitated and wander into people. My aunt and uncle are kind of oblivious to her and her needs, which is sad. I feel like kind of a dick, and I know they were hurt that I didn't invite her, but I was having a "it's MY day" moment, and didn't want her to be yelling though the ceremony or standing next to people with poop in her diaper at the reception (all things that happen at other family events). Maybe this part should have gone in the "flameworthies" thread.

[preppy]

Our wedding really was the best wedding I have ever been too. It was a destination wedding in Key West and we had 80 people there, most of them all week. We had tons of parties and events we treated everyone to throughout the week and every year on our anniversary we get people saying it was the best time and we should go back. There has been serious talk among DH's cousins on going back for our 5 year anniversary next year, lol.

[raangoli]

I have been told by some friends that they loved our wedding - but then again it was probably the first/only Indian wedding they've ever gone to, so of course it was awesome. But our dance floor was packed so that tells me people were having fun.

[redwino]

Ours was average for my circle. Our food was late, the music could have been a better mix, and I didn't provide enough non alcoholic beverage options. But my friends and I had a ball and it was nicer than typical for my family.

[meij]

It would probably be below average in MMM standards. It was a buffet at a local hall. But it only cost me $6/head haha.

My friends and family would put it above average because we had an open bar which is unheard of in my circle/town. I'd never been to an open bar wedding before my own lol. Oh and everyone loved the cake. We had six different kinds and the baker was dishing out sample plates where you could get a little sliver of each kind.

ETA I forgot we also had real dinnerware and cloth tablecloths which was also out of the norm for small town weddings lol. Oh and chair covers. The chairs were red vinyl and fun fact the exact same ugly chairs that were there when my parents had their reception thirty years prior. I covered those bad boys.

[halfpint]

Nov 16, 2015 11:47:13 GMT -5 @this said:

NO I AM NOT JUMPING INTO THE AIR I AM A GROWN ASS WOMAN GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE.

This is the worst goddamn part of being a bridesmaid. STOP IT, PHOTOGRAPHERS. 



Case in point: I am the fat bridesmaid, and the photograph is timed just right so that I look like I was barely able to clear the ground. I jumped a little too soon, and I'm on my way back down already. The groom's DAD got more air than I did. 

[anna7602]

Mine was fine. We had a big-arse wedding with 200 or so people, many of whom were friends of my parents or relatives I rarely see, because it was what my parents wanted and they paid for most of it. (I paid for my own guests.) if left to my own devices, I probably would have had something smaller or just had a big party without making everyone sit through a ceremony or eat overpriced but not spectacular food at a country club. Like a backyard bash or something.

In any event, many of my friends came and we danced a lot and I get to spend the rest of my life with DH, so it was all good overall. I have had more fun at other people's weddings, though, because I didn't have to worry about any details or about greeting every last guest.