Question of The Day. Saturday 9th of November

[Norachan]

Today's question was inspired by a certain someone who is tying the knot today.

Are you or have you been married? What kind of wedding did you have? If you've never been married what kind of wedding would you like to have? Have you been to any memorable weddings?

I'm married, but we didn't have a wedding ceremony. I thought about it, but the logistics of getting both families together in one country, when one side only speak Japanese and the other side only speak English was just too daunting.



Instead we went to City Hall, got our paperwork stamped and then used the money we would have spent on a wedding to go back packing instead.

I've been to a couple of nice weddings. A traditional Japanese one, a more modern Japanese one, an outdoor wedding where guests could bring their dogs and a punk wedding.

The punk wedding was fun, the bride wore a gold dress and turned up at the registry office in a hearse.

 

[Mia6]

I have been married, now divorced. We were married in a wedding chapel at a casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Didn't want to do the wedding thing as we wanted to spend the money on a nice honeymoon. Went to Yosemite
National Park, Napa Valley which was amazing. Stayed at a place called the Vintage Inn which was cat friendly.
Had brekkie outside and drank Mimosas. On the way back to Lake Tahoe we got caught in a blizzard, in May!!, that
came out of nowhere. We were in the SIerra Nevada Mountains. We passed a sign that said Donner Party Museum!!,
yikes!!! When we got back to Lake Tahoe, there was sun and no snow.

 

[Mia6]

The punk wedding was fun, the bride wore a gold dress and turned up at the registry office in a hearse.

Ha!!!!!

 

[maggiedemi]

Are you or have you been married? What kind of wedding did you have? If you've never been married what kind of wedding would you like to have? Have you been to any memorable weddings?

Never been married. I would just get married at the courthouse. Weddings are too expensive and I don't like crowds much these days, especially if the focus is all on me. I used to enjoy family weddings when I was a kid, where everybody would bring a dish and make a buffet. And there were wonderful live bands for dancing.

 

[Jem]

Currently married, 7 years. We married in a hall at a hotel (ceremony, dinner and reception). Our wedding was a few heads shy of 100 people. It was relatively traditional, but nothing over the top. I'm pretty frugal (some people say cheap) so we didn't spend too much.

I haven't really been to any "memorable" weddings, they were all nice and had some differences, but nothing stands out. Thankfully that also means I've never been to a wedding with over the top family drama either!

 

[muffy]

I have never been married. If I ever got married it would have been at the courthouse. I don't see spending all that money for a wedding. It would be better spend going toward a honeymoon or a down payment on a house.

Besides I would die if I had to be the center of attention at a wedding.

 

[jcat]

We've been married for 39 years. We wanted to have a simple civil ceremony with just a restaurant meal for the witnesses afterwards, but my in-laws threw such a fit that we fit in a religious ceremony the same day and had a party back at the house that evening. It was small scale, but more than we wanted.

Ever since I was a child I've thought eloping to be the smartest choice. It's the marriage that counts, not the wedding. The most memorable wedding I've ever been to was my cousin's, which convinced me I didn't want one. The groom gave the best man (his twin brother) a bloody nose shortly before the ceremony, the matron of honor had such bad sun poisoning that she couldn't walk, and the bride fainted at the altar (it was extremely hot). They've been married over 50 years, though.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

We got married in a very small ceremony in September of 2017 in Townsend, TN. My grandmother graciously offered to pay for our wedding, which was a fraction of what other family members spent on theirs (think huge events in Savannah, GA type of things).

We got married in a Bed and Breakfast, which also doubled as our honeymoon area. They offered a wedding package that included photography, flowers, a boutonniere for husband, a small cake, etc....it was truly the works! We had 10 guests, all direct family members. Husband and I are too introverted for anything too big- the idea of people staring at me and being the center of attention is my worst nightmare. Afterwards, my uncle treated us all to lunch at a good local restaurant.

It was a stunningly beautiful location in the Smoky Mountains, and the woman that owed it had won awards for her breakfasts...I have never had food as good as the food we were served there! I still dream about it sometimes. I would love to return to the place, but it's so expensive, even for just a few nights, that I doubt we ever will.

As for other weddings- the biggest one was the aforementioned Savannah wedding. That was a cousin that was in a sorority in college, so there were a ton of people. Another friend's wedding was a nighttime/evening wedding and was very quaint/not too large (maybe 70 people?). She is white, her husband is Puerto Rican, so there was much drinking and dancing involved with that one! It was very fun.

 

[Tobermory]

Both my weddings were small and informal. The first was held in a historic home in my hometown that was used for small events. The second was in my best friend’s 1889 home in Maryland. It was July and horribly hot and humid. They were renovating and didn’t have A/C. My friend’s husband went out the morning of the wedding and bought window A/C units for the rooms we were using.

But the most memorable part of the wedding was when her two cats ate part of my wedding cake while it was sitting in the kitchen. Then they tracked frosting through the house.

 

[AbbysMom]

I've been married for 27 years and had what was considered an average wedding at the time for this area, although we had a lot of people. There were over 200 at my wedding. We got married in a church and then had the reception after in the function room of a local restaurant.

So many weddings now are just so over the top in my opinion with so many extras that we didn't bother with back then. It's all so expensive and I feel like everyone is just trying to outdo each other.

I've been to a few memorable weddings, but the most so was probably my nephew's in Punta Cana this past Memorial Day Weekend. It was memorable for being over the top and how much family drama was going on.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I'm on my third marriage my first two were at the registry office then big get together afterwards with both families there. This marriage definitely my last was very small just my 4 kids and his mum and brother. we went for a nice meal afterwards and that night we hit the town. It was more enjoyable because the people we cared most about were there and more personal.

 

[LTS3]

I've never been married nor do I ever want to. However, if I were to get married I definitely do not want a typical production wedding I'm an extreme ISFJ introvert with anxiety and absolutely hate being the center of attention. Plus I can't justify the expense of a wedding (a dress you'll only wear for a few hours and never again afterwards, food, venues, flowers, etc). Getting the marriage made official at city hall would be more than enough for me. Then I'd want quiet private gathering / dinner with close friends and family, no more than a dozen or two of people.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

a dress you'll only wear for a few hours and never again afterwards

My dress was $55 on Amazon. My stepmom took me to a David's Bridal or something once and I was so miserable.

 

[neely]

We wanted to have a simple civil ceremony with just a restaurant meal for the witnesses afterwards, but my in-laws threw such a fit that we fit in a religious ceremony the same day and had a party back at the house that evening.

I'm married and this echos my experience almost to a tee except for the religious ceremony. DH and I wanted a simple wedding with only close relatives and friends at one of our favorite restaurants but the in-laws, (his parents), wouldn't hear of it. Long story short, we had what I would call a conventional wedding with approx. 150 guests. When our daughter got married I promised not to interfere the way my in-laws did and let her fiance and her make all their own decisions. Their wedding turned out lovely!

The most memorable wedding I've been to was the second marriage of one of my husband's co-workers. They had a Hawaiian luau in their backyard. Everyone was supposed to come in flip-flops and Aloha attire. Leis were handed out as you walked in. It was casual, great music, extremely friendly and the best wedding I have been to in a long time.

 

[Willowy]

I have never been married and don't particularly want to at this point, but who knows, maybe later in life I'll meet someone who changes my mind.

I don't want a wedding. Too much trouble and expense for one day. If I ever get married it'll be a basic "sign the papers and have a nice dinner with family" kind of thing.

Most weddings I've been to have been pretty similar. Say the vows, everybody eat, dance. My cousin's wedding was the best. Her MIL planned it and managed everything, and she's an amazing planner. It was beautiful and everything went perfectly (well, there was a funny mixup with the minister's paperwork, since the wedding was in Iowa and he was only licensed in South Dakota, but nobody figured that out until later so it didn't mess up the wedding or reception at all). The food was delicious but not too fancy, the decor was tasteful, there were no arguments about the playlist. Just perfect.

 

[LTS3]

My dress was $55 on Amazon. My stepmom took me to a David's Bridal or something once and I was so miserable.

My Mom rented a wedding dress to get married. It wasn't anything fancy, just lots of frills and lace ball gown style from the one wedding picture I've seen.

If I ever get married it'll be a basic "sign the papers and have a nice dinner with family" kind of thing.

Same.

One cousin did choose a non-typical venue for her wedding, a major league baseball park. I'm pretty sure it was the groom's choice as my cousin has zero interest in baseball. I wasn't able to attend that wedding but saw pictures afterwards.

 

[verna davies]

I've been married and now happily divorced. We decided to get married on the Wednesday, had Thursday morning off work to buy something to wear got married by special licence on Friday and back to Monday. We told no one, had the two witnesses required who were strangers, went home and phoned both sets of parents to tell them. We had our honeymoon 6 years later in Florida. I dont like fuss of any kind so this suited me. No regrets.

 

[posiepurrs]

I have been married 42 years. Despite arguments with my mother about the service, we did it our way - no guests other than immediate family , no flowers, no reception, no fanfare. I bought an ivory dress which I think was actually a prom dress which cost a whole $35, and he bought a new suit. Neither of us like to be the center of attention nor did we want to spend a lot of money. My parents were going to go into debt for it, but we felt if we were old enough to get married we were old enough to pay for it. We did get married in the church but had planned to do it outside (it rained). Two slightly funny things happened - the minster who married us was more nervous than us since it was only his second wedding. My mother was in charge of returning the key for the church afterwards, and she lost it. We spent the first half hour of our marriage searching through the lawn at the church for the key. We went out for dinner, just the 2 of us and then on to Disney World and Silver Springs for our honeymoon. Even though I worked as a florist for 20 years, I can not justify spending the amount of money people spend for that one day! I guess I am just to practical (cheap) to do it.

 

[susanm9006]

Never married. A couple of serious relationships but just not the right time, or the right man.

 

[betsygee]

I've been married for 34 years. We had a small ceremony with family and friends, about 30 people, in the courtyard of a hotel. Just the right size and we hardly spent any money on it.